A single mother in Chandpur who was forced to sell her baby immediately after giving birth to foot the hospital bills, got back her child Thursday night, all thanks to the local administration.

Tamanna Begum, 28, from Hanir Par village in Matlab Uttar upazila, underwent a C-section to deliver her baby Wednesday. But she had to sell the newborn boy to pay Tk 40,000 for the delivery at a private hospital.

Tamanna’s husband has been missing for a long time, and her neighbours admitted her to the hospital after her labor pain started.

"Soon after my admission, I gave birth to my son but no one sadly came forward to foot the medical bills. A man proposed to me that I could sell my baby to pay the bills and I complied," she said.

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As the news spread across the locality, on Thursday, additional commissioner (land) Mohammad Hedayetullah and local police conducted a joint drive to return the child to her mother.

In fact, they recovered the baby from a woman named Shimla Aktar in Shatnal union of the upazila. After interrogation, they found out that both the parties had mutually brokered the deal.

Later, the administration handed over the baby to Tamanna by making both of them sign a bond.

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Gazi Shariful Hasan, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) who supervised the drive, said, “We are glad that we could return the baby to his mother with spontaneous support of the locals.”

UNO Shariful personally gave Tk 5,000 to Tamanna as assistance.