Two couples and a baby: Punjab drug addiction tragedy has new victims

Two months ago, to finance their drug addiction, the son and his partner, residents of a village in district Mansa, allegedly sold off their infant son. The two are now in judicial custody, along with a couple from another village in the district who say they “adopted” the child.

The infant is in a shelter home, and last week, hearing a PIL on the matter, the Punjab and Haryana High Court sought an urgent report on the condition and custody of the boy, and asked why he had not been kept with his mother. At a hearing on Tuesday, the state government asked for more time to file its reply.

Police got wind of the matter after a purported video of the mother went viral last month, where she talked of her and her partner’s drug addiction, and both admitted to selling their son for around Rs 1.80 lakh. With some of that money they purchased household items, and blew the rest on “chitta (an intoxicant)”, the woman, who is in her late teens, said.

On October 25, on a complaint by the woman’s sister, who had got attached to the baby, police filed an FIR on charges of child trafficking, and made the first arrests. The SHO of Bareta, Mela Singh, said: “We have registered a case of child trafficking on the complaint of the aunt. Both the couples are in jail. Now the court will decide the next move.”

Mansa district alone has seen 761 cases related to drugs this year, with 1,137 people arrested. The seizures made include heroin, opium, ganja, narcotic pills and cough syrup bottles.

The 58-year-old, who has been separated from his wife for nearly 20 years, says his son slipped into drug addiction some years ago. He raised his three children on his own, from earnings from the 3 acres of land he owns with his elder brother.

Once his son got habituated to drugs, they struggled to wean him away, the father says. He was arrested for theft once, and recently, broke his elderly uncle’s arm when he tried to stop him from taking away metal pipes from the house to sell.

The woman’s family, based in a village 10 km away, says she was once a promising kabaddi player. Her sister says she represented the government school that she studied in at the state level. “She never took drugs. She was focused on sports and studies.”

Around two-and-a-half years ago, the family says, she came in contact with her partner over Instagram. Within months, she had left home to live with him.

When she got pregnant, the 58-year-old says, his son and she got admitted to a de‑addiction centre. “But after returning, they relapsed.”

The woman’s family says they broke all ties with her after she left, and visited her for the first time after hearing she had given birth to a boy on July 31. It was then that they learnt of her drug addiction, says her sister. “The villagers and others informed us that her partner was a drug addict, and that she had also been pushed into drug use. She initially denied this.”

The sister also claims the couple didn’t “sell” the boy but gave it away on the advice of a priest, for some money. “The child was sick and, instead of a doctor, he was taken to a local pandit. He told the parents that their son had been possessed by a spirit and would not survive if he stayed with them, and that they should place him in someone else’s lap. They did so, giving the child to a couple, who gave them money.”

The couple who “adopted” the then two-month-old boy on September 29 are in their 40s and parents to three daughters. While the husband was arrested on October 26, the wife was held Sunday evening, with their 18-month-old daughter kept with her because of her young age.

A close friend says: “I used to see the infant’s parents try to procure chitta in the local market. One day I saw them with a child lying around them, with the two out of their senses. The child looked weak. I suggested to my friend that they adopt the child… He buys and sells scrap, earns well. The family was so happy. Now everything has turned upside down.”

A relative says, “When we adopted the child, he was very sick and weak. Now he is completely healthy. For two-and-a-half months, the child’s mother did not file any complaint against us. Then someone provoked them.”

The grandmother says her son and daughter-in-law wanted a son as they had lost one.

The two families signed an affidavit certifying the adoption, but did not register with a magistrate, as required. They also made a video of the “adoption ceremony”. The lawyer who helped with the affidavit claims it was not possible to register the adoption “as no one can legally give away their first child”. “So the two families mutually decided on an affidavit saying the child was being adopted. I don’t know how the child trafficking allegations came about.”

Social worker and teacher Jasvir Singh Khudal, who knows the families, says: “The law is important. But the government should take a humanitarian approach. Both families have been affected, and this situation is only adding to their misery.”

The boy’s aunt says her sister is full of remorse. “She says she has quit drugs and wants her son back, she wants to raise him… We only want my sister and her son to come back to us.”