Teenage Girl Tries To Sell Blood To Buy Smartphone, Hospital Intervenes

The desire to own a smartphone turned dangerous when a 16-year-old girl approached the blood bank of a district hospital in West Bengal to sell her blood. The teen took this drastic step so that she could buy a smartphone.

Concerned, the blood bank authorities informed Childline India and the girl was counselled before being handed over to her parents with the help of the district child welfare committee.

16-Year-Old Tries To Sell Blood

Reports tell the girl left home on Monday with the excuse of attending tuition but left her bicycle at a bus stand. She boarded a bus from Tapan to reach the district headquarters in Balurghat, around 30 km away and headed straight to the hospital.

“A girl approached us around 10 am. Initially, we thought that she had come to take blood as it was a blood bank of the district hospital. But when she told us that she wanted to sell us blood, we were shocked,” said Kanak Kumar Das from the blood bank at the Balurghat district hospital.

Since the girl was a minor, the blood bank authorities informed Childline on 1098, and counsellor Rita Mahato was rushed to the hospital.

The counsellor told that the girl initially claimed that she wanted to pay for her brother's treatment. But later, upon a little counselling, she told them that she wanted money to buy a smartphone which she has already ordered online on her relative’s mobile phone. Her parents claimed that they were in a state of shock as they too were unaware of the girl’s intention behind this incident.

“She told us that she had ordered a mobile phone on Sunday through an online shopping app. It costs around Rs 9,000 and will be delivered on Thursday,” Mahato said.

The girl's father, who is a vegetable vendor at the local market, said that he was not at home when she left for her "tuition." "I am not sure how she got the idea that she could sell blood to get money,” her father said. Her mother is a homemaker. The girl has a younger brother who studies in class four.

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