The triplest lie in a Diamond Harbour hospital. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Unable to bear the treatment cost of his newborn triplets, Ashim Das was about to sell one of the babies to a childless couple. Till an NGO came to his aid.

A van rickshaw-puller, Ashim barely earns Rs 1,000 per month. He stays with his family at Bamanagar village, in Kakdwip block of South 24-Parganas. Ashim’s father Debnath and brother Biswajit are also daily-wagers.

On October 12, Ashim’s wife Shipra gave premature birth to triplets — one son and two daughters — at Kakdwip hospital. Since there is no incubator at the block hospital and there was no time to take the babies elsewhere, the newborns were shifted to Caribou Nursing Home, in Diamond Harbour, the next day.

Doctor S.K. Ansar Ali, owner of Caribou Nursing Home, said: “We had given an estimate of the cost to Ashim. He begged us to admit the babies, saying he had lost a child earlier.”

The bill exceeded Rs 45,000, but the father only had Rs 6,000. “I thought all through the night and decided to sell one of the girls. I reasoned that I would at least get to keep two of my children,” he said.

A member of Diganta heard the case on a trip to Bakkhali. He told the other members of the organisation, who chipped in to raise Rs 5,000. The members also convinced the nursing home to bring down the bill to Rs 15,000 and promised to raise the rest of the amount. “We paid a part of the bill. The rest will be paid later,” stated Utpal Roy of Diganta.

The babies are expected to be discharged soon. With money provided by Diganta, Ashim has gone back to his village to bring his wife to Diamond Harbour.