Punjab: Drug addict couple held for selling 5-month-old son in Mansa: Cops

The couple was allegedly addicted to drugs and was unable to raise the child. Subsequently, they gave the infant to the family of the scrap dealer in Budhlada town for ₹1.8 lakh.

Strap A scrap dealer, who allegedly was the beneficiary, also in police net

Officials of the Mansa child welfare wing of the state social welfare department with rescued child. (HT)

The Mansa district police on Saturday arrested a couple, allegedly addicted to drugs, and a scrap dealer for trafficking the former’s five-month-old son due to poverty, the police authorities said.

The case came to light after the child’s maternal aunt approached the police, an official said.

Bareta station house officer (SHO) Baldev Singh said that the biological parents of the infant and another person, identified as Sanju Singh, who allegedly bought the child last month, were arrested under section 143 (4) (human trafficking) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

He said that the child was rescued and shifted to Sri Anant Anath Ashram, a state-approved orphanage run at Nathana village in Bathinda, by the Mansa child protection authorities.

“Sanju’s wife Aarti has also been nominated in the case and she is yet to be arrested. The matter is under investigation to find the involvement of any other person in the crime,” added the SHO.

Investigators said that a case was registered today on the complaint of the child’s maternal aunt, a resident of Bool village in Ludhiana.

Talking to mediapersons on Friday, the infant’s parents had revealed their addiction to narcotics led them to sell their only child.

The couple, residents of Mansa, was allegedly addicted to drugs and was unable to raise the child. Subsequently, they gave the infant to the family of the scrap dealer in Budhlada town for ₹1.8 lakh.

The mother of the child, who claims to have played as a wrestler, befriended her husband on Instagram, and they got married last year.

As per the complainant, the couple sold the child on September 29 and she approached the police, where she charged Sanju and Aarti for taking undue advantage of her sister’s poor financial condition and forced them to sell their baby.

Bajwa: Drug menace spreading like plague

Chandigarh The leader of the Opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Saturday accused chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann of ignoring drug menace in Punjab. Highlighting an incident where a drug-addict couple from Mansa sold their five-month-old son to fund their addiction, he said, “A baby was sold like an object. An innocent life was reduced to a transaction because drugs have eaten away the soul of our society.” He added, “The drug menace is spreading like plague through our villages, consuming generation after generation.”