Police have rescued two boys who were allegedly sold by their mother for 20,000 to a person two years ago for grazing cattle.

Police said the boys, aged 8 and 13, hailed from Kalparai near Ervadi and had been sold to one Thangamuthu, a farmer of Sellur in Ramanathapuram district.

The matter came to light when the two managed to escape recently and was taken by a woman to a Hotel run by her in Erode.

The woman lodged a complaint last week after Thangamuthu traced them and demanded that they be sent with him, police said.

The boys told police that their mother had sold them because she was very poor and could not bring them up.

Erode police took custody of the boys and handed them over to their counterparts at Ramanathapuram today.

Police said the boys had been admitted to the government home for orphans and they were looking for their mother and Thangamuthu.