Three persons were arrested for allegedly selling a tribal woman for Rs 10,000 in Rajasthan to recover a Rs 3000 debt she had taken by mortgaging her `mangalsutra'.

The woman, identified as Sunitabai, had borrowed the money from one Arjun sometime back and was unable to return the same due to financial crisis, Superintendent of Police Jitendra Singh said.

When the woman failed to return the borrowed money, Arjun, with four others, allegedly sold the woman for Rs 10,000 to one Om Khan in a village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan on the pretext of getting her a job in the village.

Later, the husband of the woman lodged a complaint with the police following which police arrested three persons identified as Nirbhay, Gulam Rasool and Sadiq in this regard and took the woman into its custody, Singh said.

Two other accused, including Om Khan who had allegedly purchased the woman were absconding, he said adding, the police has charged Khan with rape, while others were booked for abducting the tribal woman.