Natore man sells infant daughter for 1L to repay loan

A man has allegedly sold his 22-day-old daughter for Tk1.1 lakh to repay his loan in Boraigram upazila of Natore district.

The incident happened in Coin village under Nagar union of the upazila and came to light on Tuesday.

Locals said, a few months ago, rickshaw-van driver Rezaul Karim took loan from his neighbours Kalam Hossain, Abdus Samad, and Samad’s brother Sanower Hossain. He failed to repay the loan which stood at Tk80,000. The lenders were creating pressure on him and even took his only earning source, the van. 

At one point, Rezaul decided to sell his daughter. When his wife tried to stop him, he threatened to commit suicide.

Later, he sold the child to lender Abdus Samad’s relative Rafiqul Islam, from Pabna’s Ishwardi upazila for Tk1.1 lakh. He repaid the loan and bought a new rickshaw-van with the rest of the money, locals added.

Natore Superintendent of Police Liton Kumar said: “On information, we called Rezaul, his family, and the lenders to the station for interrogation on Monday. Reazul said he has given up his daughter for adoption and not sold her. He showed us an affidavit on stamp in this regard.

“We let them go but further investigation is underway.”