8 held in connection with illegal adoption of babies

Couples allegedly gave away their infants in exchange for cash

In separate cases, the Tiruverumbur police on Tuesday arrested eight persons, including two couples, on the charge of adopting babies illegally.

The rescued infants were sent to a recognised adoption centre in neighbouring Ariyalur district, after being produced before the Child Welfare Committee in Tiruchi.

Acting on inputs, a police team from the Tiruverumbur station, along with personnel from the Anti Human Trafficking Unit and the District Child Protection Unit, found that 29-year-old Ashwini of Tiruverumbur, a mother of two girl children, had wanted to adopt a male child. She had allegedly paid ?1 lakh to N. Velammal, who works as a sweeper at the Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital in Tiruchi, through her neighbour Lourdumary, who is said to have been the go-between.

The baby was born to K. Bhuvaneswari, 42, a labourer, at the government hospital, and Velammal had arranged the sale of the infant.

The police arrested Ashwini, Velammal, Bhuvaneswari and Lourdumary. Ashwini’s husband R. Govindan, 32, is absconding.

?82,000 recovered

A case was registered against the five accused under Sections 317 (exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years by parent or person having care of it) and 370 (4) (trafficking of a minor) of the IPC, read with Sections 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

A sum of ?82,000, said to have been part of the amount that Ashwini had allegedly paid Velammal, was recovered.

In another case, a couple, identified as R. Dharmaraj, 30, and D. Rani, 28, allegedly gave away their newborn for adoption without following the prescribed procedure. They had handed over the baby to their relatives P. Kumar, 30, and K. Saradha, 27, who were childless, after allegedly receiving ?7,000 from the latter.

The offence was brought to light by a village health nurse, who had been monitoring the health of Rani. The police arrested both couples and booked them under the same provisions as the ones that were used in the first case.

Both cases were registered on the basis of separate complaints lodged by the District Child Protection Officer, Tiruchi.

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