In a heart-breaking incident, desperation and poverty reportedly drove a widow in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan to sell off her 11-year-old daughter to a couple for 650,000 Indian rupees (12,000 U.S. dollars).

The woman, now in police custody for the crime, told cops that she sold her minor daughter last month to repay a fine of 450,000 Indian rupees (8,500 U.S. dollars approximately) which has been imposed on her by the local village council for violating a local tradition, according to local media reports.

The case came to light this week after the girl managed to flee from the clutches of the couple who bought her for trafficking. The couple have been arrested and the girl has been sent to a women's shelter in the state.

"We recovered papers from the girl and it's clearly written that the mother has sold her daughter to Santra and Tarachand Jat. We have arrested the mother of the girl and the two buyers," said Rakesh Verma, head of the anti-trafficking unit in the state's Tonk district.

In India, poverty often forces people to sell off their daughters. Many of these trafficked women land up in prostitution.