Three arrested in child trafficking case

HIV-positive parents sold the 22-day son to a couple for ?1.1 lakh

A 22-day-old boy child was sold by its HIV-positive and poverty-stricken parents at Manapparai in Tiruchi district recently.

The Tiruchi Rural Police have arrested three persons — an intermediary and the couple who had bought the child, paying ?1.35 lakh.

The action was initiated based on a complaint preferred by the District Child Protection Officer to the Manapparai police station on Thursday.

The incident came to light when the baby was admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi with fever on Wednesday. According to hospital sources, the baby was found to be “critically underweight” and the “mother” was asked to breastfeed the infant. “But the mother said she could not. When coaxed, she divulged that the baby was not hers. They could not produce documents for adoption too. Hence, the matter was reported to the Childline,” a medical officer said.

Subsequently, the child's biological parents were summoned and the matter was brought to the notice of the Child Welfare Committee, which conducted a detailed inquiry into the sale.

A CWC member said the infant was the third child of the HIV-positive couple. The child’s father is a labourer at a tea shop and the mother works as a housemaid. The couple has a school-going daughter and a son. The woman had delivered the third child at home.

The police have detained Anthoniammal of Manapparai, who acted as an intermediary, and the middle-aged couple, A.Murugesan and Ramayee of Murukkankudi near Viralimalai in Pudukottai district, to whom the child was sold. Of the ?1.35 lakh paid by the couple, A.Murugesan and Ramayee of Murukkankudi, the intermediary had taken ?20,000 as her share, said sources in the district Child Welfare Committee.

Speaking to the mediapersons in Manapparai, the biological father of the boy said they were forced to sell as they would not be able raise the child. “Even though we know what we did was wrong, we wanted the child to have a better life somewhere,” he said.

The couple who had bought the child had lost their son who worked as an Assistant Professor and wanted to adopt a son, so that they would have an heir. The baby was handed over to the couple at a temple at Manapparai a few days ago in the presence of the Anthoniammal, who brokered the deal.

The child is undergoing treatment at the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital under the supervision of the Child Welfare Committee. "The child is stable and requires nutrition,” said the District Child Protection Officer said.

Police sources that the three accused were booked under IPC Sections 370 (iv) (Trafficking of persons) and 317 (Exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years, by parent or person having care of it) read with Sec.80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

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