Police recover infant sold by father who blamed supernatural disappearance
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Police in Magura have rescued a one-month-old infant 22 days after she was sold by her father, who orchestrated an elaborate deception to conceal the crime from his wife. The infant, named Tuktuki, was recovered on Thursday afternoon following an investigation by local authorities, who subsequently reunited the child with her mother.
The incident occurred in the Beraul Polita Union of Magura Sadar upazila on the eve of Eid-ul-Adha. According to Police Superintendent Molla Azad Hossain, the child’s father, 34-year-old Sagar Hossain, sold the newborn for 25,000 taka to a local couple, Shahabur and Monira Khatun, through a written agreement. To facilitate the sale, Hossain allegedly misled the buyers by presenting another woman as his wife and claiming he needed the money to fund her cancer treatment.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Back at home, Hossain fabricated a supernatural narrative to explain the child’s sudden disappearance to his actual wife, Tanzila Khatun. He told her that supernatural spirits had abducted the infant and even invited local exorcists to the home to perform rituals, claiming these efforts would eventually lead to the child’s return. The charade continued for three weeks until a desperate Tanzila Khatun sought assistance from the police on Wednesday.
Using digital surveillance and local intelligence, law enforcement tracked the infant to the residence of the buyers in the Dakshin Birpur area. While the couple claimed they purchased the child using funds from the sale of cattle, investigators are currently probing whether there were ulterior motives or human trafficking elements involved.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Authorities have taken the father, the buying couple, and three intermediaries who facilitated the illicit transaction into custody. Legal proceedings are currently underway against all involved parties.
Despite the betrayal, the infant’s mother expressed deep distress regarding the circumstances surrounding the family’s poverty, noting that consecutive cesarean sections had left her in a fragile state of health. While she acknowledged her husband’s actions were driven by extreme financial pressure, she remained steadfast in her relief at her daughter’s return, pleading for leniency for her husband despite the severity of the offense. Police Superintendent Hossain emphasized that poverty cannot serve as a justification for the sale of a human being, labeling the incident a heinous criminal act.
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