A couple from Bihar, who have seven daughters, were arrested for abandoning their seven-year-old child in a crowded mall here in January as they were unable to raise their children due to poverty, police said on Wednesday.
Pramod Paswan (50) and his wife Sunita Paswan was arrested from Ghaziabad recently after police conducted searches in the area. The couple, who have seven daughters, went to Ansal Plaza in south Delhi on January 25 with the girl and asked her to wait at a particular spot saying that they would return soon. As they did not return and the girl was standing alone, mall authorities reported the matter to the police who lodged her in an NGO Prayas.
During investigation, police came to know that the girl hails from Bihar and her father was ill. After painstalking efforts and visits to their village in Bihar's Munger district, police got clues that the girl's family was currently staying in Ghaziabad and that her father was earning his livelihood by pulling rickshaw.
Acting on the information, police arrested the couple, who, during interrogation, told the police that they decided to abandon the girl as they have seven daughters.
"Accordingly, both father and mother have been booked and the girl continues to be at ‘Prayas’," Chhaya Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South district, said.