LilMtnCbn
06-23-2004, 09:16 AM
http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=06231
Selling Fair Tribal Babies
IN the first week of May 2004, Jakya, an agricultural labourer, finalised a
deal to sell his three-month-old baby daughter for Rs 5,000. Jakya is from
Nagaram thaanda, a tiny hamlet with about 30-odd families in Nizampet mandal
(Medak district, Andhra Pradesh). His wife was convinced as well.The couple was
dealing through a fellow Lambada from the same thaanda. However, local
reporters got wind of the deal and sabotaged it. The family is now really
upset. The sale amount would have guaranteed the family, which has three other
children, six months’ worth of decent meals.
Ironically, they were convinced that their baby would have a far better life
with the buyers than they could even dream of. The police, who are now
investigating the case, have not been able to establish whether this was just a
childless couple trying to buy a child or is part of a bigger racket. The fear
that the deal might be murky is real.
Nagaram is a mere 30-minute drive from Hyderabad, the hi-tech capital of Andhra
Pradesh. And Medak, unlike other districts in Telengana, had no previously
recorded incidents of the sale of babies. Three years ago, NGOs working in
various Telengana districts discovered the extremely profitable business run by
private adoption homes of buying and selling babies from poor Lambada families
to interested people in the United States, United Kingdom and other parts of
Europe and Australia.
The modus operandi was simple. The adoption homes functioned through brokers,
usually a Lambada man. The broker identified poor families with many young
children. He then convinced them to sell their child, Usually telling them that
they would have visiting rights. And anyway, he would tell them, you can always
have more children. Then the child would be taken away; the parents never got
to see their child again. The broker would usually get Rs 5,000 per child and
the parents would get about Rs 1,000.
The Lambadas, weighed down by the dowry system, were glad to get rid of their
female children. And this made it easier for the adoption homes to procure
girls. After news of such sales broke three years ago, the state government
closed down all private adoption homes. Since then, all adoptions by foreign
nationals have been disallowed.
Lambadas, known as Banjaras elsewhere in India are essentially a nomadic tribe;
they traditionally traded in salt. Now, they are primarily agricultural
labourers in villages or migrant labour in the construction industry. With
practically no birth-control devices available to them, the Lambadas have a
number of children. These factors set the stage for the sale of female
children.
Lambada children - with their Caucasian features, relatively fair skin and
honey-coloured eyes are quite popular with people in the West who wish to adopt
Indian children. - Usha Revelli, WFS
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Selling Fair Tribal Babies
IN the first week of May 2004, Jakya, an agricultural labourer, finalised a
deal to sell his three-month-old baby daughter for Rs 5,000. Jakya is from
Nagaram thaanda, a tiny hamlet with about 30-odd families in Nizampet mandal
(Medak district, Andhra Pradesh). His wife was convinced as well.The couple was
dealing through a fellow Lambada from the same thaanda. However, local
reporters got wind of the deal and sabotaged it. The family is now really
upset. The sale amount would have guaranteed the family, which has three other
children, six months’ worth of decent meals.
Ironically, they were convinced that their baby would have a far better life
with the buyers than they could even dream of. The police, who are now
investigating the case, have not been able to establish whether this was just a
childless couple trying to buy a child or is part of a bigger racket. The fear
that the deal might be murky is real.
Nagaram is a mere 30-minute drive from Hyderabad, the hi-tech capital of Andhra
Pradesh. And Medak, unlike other districts in Telengana, had no previously
recorded incidents of the sale of babies. Three years ago, NGOs working in
various Telengana districts discovered the extremely profitable business run by
private adoption homes of buying and selling babies from poor Lambada families
to interested people in the United States, United Kingdom and other parts of
Europe and Australia.
The modus operandi was simple. The adoption homes functioned through brokers,
usually a Lambada man. The broker identified poor families with many young
children. He then convinced them to sell their child, Usually telling them that
they would have visiting rights. And anyway, he would tell them, you can always
have more children. Then the child would be taken away; the parents never got
to see their child again. The broker would usually get Rs 5,000 per child and
the parents would get about Rs 1,000.
The Lambadas, weighed down by the dowry system, were glad to get rid of their
female children. And this made it easier for the adoption homes to procure
girls. After news of such sales broke three years ago, the state government
closed down all private adoption homes. Since then, all adoptions by foreign
nationals have been disallowed.
Lambadas, known as Banjaras elsewhere in India are essentially a nomadic tribe;
they traditionally traded in salt. Now, they are primarily agricultural
labourers in villages or migrant labour in the construction industry. With
practically no birth-control devices available to them, the Lambadas have a
number of children. These factors set the stage for the sale of female
children.
Lambada children - with their Caucasian features, relatively fair skin and
honey-coloured eyes are quite popular with people in the West who wish to adopt
Indian children. - Usha Revelli, WFS
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
