E-Paper
MP police arrest 5 people including 2 doctors for selling baby for ₹2.5 lakh
Police arrested five people including two doctors for allegedly selling a baby, born to a minor girl, for ₹2
Police arrested five people including two doctors for allegedly selling a baby, born to a minor girl, for ₹2.5 lakh in Khandwa district, officials said.
The police suspected that the accused used to run a baby-selling racket and used to target unmarried and minor mothers, Vivek Singh, superintendent of police, Khandwa, said.
Police arrested Dr Saurabh Soni, who used to run a clinic in Khandwa, Dr Renu Soni, owner of a maternity hospital, Sanjana Patel, a nurse at a district hospital, Mohsin Khan and Kamlesh Patel, employees working at a clinic of Saurabh Soni, under different sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The SP Vivek Singh said, “A 16-year-old unmarried girl gave birth to a baby boy a week ago at the maternity hospital of Dr Renu Soni. The family refused to accept the baby. They took the girl with them by leaving the baby at the hospital. Later, Dr Saurabh Soni gave the baby to a midwife to take care of the baby for some days.”
“Instead of informing the police Dr Soni fixed a deal with a couple and asked the midwife to return the baby but she refused and informed the police,” he added.
“During the investigation, police found that the government hospital nurse, Sanjana Patel, used to inform Dr Saurabh Soni about unmarried and minor girls who didn’t want a baby. The doctor used to fix the deal with family members of these women on the condition of keeping this a secret. Later, Mohsin and Kamlesh used to look for interested couples to sell the babies,” said an investigative officer.
Police are interrogating to know how many babies they have sold to date. The police have issued a public notice seeking information about other cases.
The district administration also sealed a clinic and medical shop of one of the accused, Dr Saurabh Soni.
Two years ago, MP Police busted an inter-state racket of selling babies born to unmarried mothers in Jhabua. More than 10 people had been arrested from Maharashtra, MP and Gujarat.
