Police arrest 5 in connection with sale of newborn

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Nov 10, 2012: SP Abhishek Goyal told reporters that the city police have registered cases against five people for selling a baby to a couple. One of the five is the biological mother of the baby.

Revealing details, the SP said that a woman from Belthangady delivered a baby at Lady Goschen Hospital on April 2. Since the child was illegitimate, the mother told her sister that she does not wish to raise the baby. The sisters, therefore, handed over the baby to two nurses at Lady Goschen, who in turn handed it over to another woman, who sold the child to a couple from Kasargod.

In response to a complaint filed at Venur Police Station, the police registered cases against the five people involved in the sale of the child. The SP said that the police did not register any case against the couple from Kasargod because they are still investigating the case. Moreover, the couple claimed that they did not know anything about the circumstances of the baby’s birth.

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has taken charge of the baby.

Speaking on the occasion, Vanitha T., member of the Karnataka Child Rights Commission, said that more and more women are giving birth to illegitimate children these days. She suggested that hospitals must get details of pregnant women coming for delivery to prevent illegal sale of babies.

She also urged people who want to adopt children to do it the legal way and not purchase babies from anybody.

CWC Chairperson Asha Nayak said that the child could be handed back to its biological mother according to the law, however, the biological mother has not applied and so the CWC will continue taking care of the baby.

When reporters wanted to know if the baby could be returned to the couple from Kasargod, she said that the couple will have to follow legal procedures in order to get back the baby. The CWC can give the baby to any couple who applies with them, she said.