A mother was forced to sell her two-month-old child for Tk 30,000 to repay debts.

Three days after the heartbreaking incident, a police team reunited the mother and her child yesterday.

Lima Hanufa, the mother, said her husband could not secure a job in the last five years after a road accident left him crippled.

After giving birth to their youngest child, Lima, her family's only wage earner, too could not work.

As a result, the amount of the family's debt recently increased to Tk 30,000 -- Tk 12,000 in rent, Tk 10,000 in grocery, and Tk 8,000 in pharmacy, she said.

Facing constant pressure of repayments from the creditors and finding no way out of this crisis, the mother sold her child to a neighbouring childless couple for Tk 30,000 on Monday.

Lima used the money to pay off her debts.

On information, Ashraful Islam, officer-in-charge of Tongi East Police Station, visited the childless couple, paid them Tk 30,000 from his own pocket, and reunited the child with her mother.

Besides, the OC also arranged a job for the child's father in a local factory, said Yeasin Arafat, sub-inspector of the police station.

SI Yeasin was the first responder after police got information about the incident via national helpline 999.

Swarna Akhter, who bought the child, said, "We spent Tk 30,000 on the child. We later gave the child back to the mother in accordance with the police's instructions."