Agartala: Tripura government on Sunday ordered an inquiry into the report of the missing of a 3 -yrs old girl from a government-run home in Narsingarh, near Agartala under the state’s Social Welfare department.
The victim’s mother lodged an FIR at Melaghar police station in Sepahijala on Saturday, accusing the Welfare Officer of selling her daughter. The police said, as soon as the complaint was registered, an investigation was started, and the initial attempt was to rescue the girl.
According to the FIR, around nine months ago, the distressed mother, whose husband had mysteriously gone missing, sought help from the Sepahijala District Child Welfare Committee to shelter her three children.
Two of them were placed at the state-run Narsingarh Founding Home in Agartala. The mother would frequently visit them, often carrying her youngest, just 3 years old, in her arms. Nivedita Dutta, a lawyer and also the Child Welfare Officer at the Narsingarh Founding Home, allegedly pressured the mother to give her 3-year-old up for adoption.
The mother refused, instead requesting that she would be thankful to Dutta if she arranged to give shelter to her third child officially into the home for care. However, before last year's Durga Puja, Dutta reportedly contacted the mother and, claiming to help place the child in the home, and since then, the child has been missing.
The FIR also names Advocate Arindam Deb, an Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) in Agartala and husband of Nivedita Dutta, accusing him of being involved in notarizing the illegal handover through a notary office in Agartala. Former superintendent of the Narsingarh Founding Home, Bharati Kapali, is also alleged to be part of the trafficking network.
Recently, the woman’s missing husband returned home, only to discover that none of their children were at home. The family was devastated. Two days ago, the woman visited the Narsingarh Founding Home again, hoping to reunite with her children.
She was shocked to learn that the youngest daughter was unaccounted for. She immediately informed the Sepahijala District CWC, but they also were not able to trace the child. However, she claimed she was coerced into signing documents and offered Rs 10,000, which she refused.
“I thought I was handing my child over to the care of the government, not selling her," the distraught mother told police. Also, alleged, "When I asked where my daughter was, I was threatened, and warned that if I pursued the matter, my other two daughters would be removed from the home."
