Baby sold for Rs 1.8L rescued, 7 held

Ariyalur: Ariyalur police on Wednesday arrested seven people and rescued a three-month-old baby girl sold to a couple in Coimbatore. Jayankondam police arrested the baby’s father V Saravanan, 38, of Vadaveekkam and mother Meena, 29, as well as the Coimbatore couple. The baby was the fourth daughter of the couple.

Brokers M Muthaiah, 52, of Trichy, P Rajendran, 56, and C Senthilkumar, 40, of Erode who facilitated the illegal activity were also arrested. “The Coimbatore couple were childless for seven years since marriage. The brokers misled them into involving in the illegal sale of the baby,” said inspector of police Jayankondam. The couple bought the baby for Rs 1.8 lakh by writing the process on a stamp paper as told by the brokers. He said the action was taken based on a complaint from the district child protection officer (DCPO) of Ariyalur S Duraimurugan. It was the baby’s mother Meena who exposed the sale by tipping the DCPO.

The DCPO conducted preliminary inquiries and after confirming the incident filed a complaint with Jayankondam police. Duraimurugan said Saravanan sold the baby for Rs 1.8 lakh to a couple through three brokers a couple of days ago. “Police rescued the baby from a couple in Coimbatore and brought it to Ariyalur. Further investigation is on,” he said in the evening. The DCPO said Meena is the second wife of Saravanan and the couple already had three daughters.

“Going by the statement of his wife, Saravanan decided to sell the baby and went ahead. Poverty does not seem to have been the reason for selling the baby,” he said. The baby’s custody will be given to the DCPO if the parents are unwilling to keep it with them.