An electric rickshaw driver who put his schoolboy son up for sale for GBP 8,000 has told police in India he needed the cash to pay off a debt to a moneylender who was also his relative.
Anguished Rajkumar, 45, says he lost his home and his electric rickshaw after taking out an INR 50,000 (GBP 493) loan to help buy a house in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh state.
Heartbreaking images show Rajkumar sitting at a bus stop with his son, who seems to be aged around ten, his wife, and daughter.
Around his neck is a sign saying: “My son is for sale, I want to sell him.”
Local media says he was asking INR 800,000, or GBP 7,911.
Rajkumar claims he was swindled out of his new home and his electric rickshaw was confiscated so he had no other way of raising cash.
He named the moneylender as Chandrapal Singh, who he claimed was also his relative, and said: “The moneylender often harassed and humiliated me in front of my kids.
“He even threw me and my family out of the house.
“My e-rickshaw, the only means of supporting my family, had been taken away.
“I’ve been visiting the local police station for days for justice.”
Rajkumar told local media he had already paid INR 6,000 (GBP 59) to the moneylender and was trying his best to pay off the rest.
Aligarh Police used social media to claim the dispute had been settled.
They said: “There was a dispute among them regarding not returning the money, yesterday the matter was resolved with the consent of both the parties.”
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav criticised the state government for allowing the incident, and wrote on X: “This is the ‘Amrit kaal’ [better future] of the Bharatiya Janata Party when a father is forced to sell his son.
“Before this picture spreads across the world and tarnishes the image of the state and the country in the entire world, someone should wake up the government.”
