No pre-arrest bail for 3 women named in baby selling case

MUMBAI: The sessions court has rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of three women who allegedly played a crucial role in stealing and selling a two-month-old girl from the pavement outside St Xavier School in Sion

MUMBAI: The sessions court has rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of three women who allegedly played a crucial role in stealing and selling a two-month-old girl from the pavement outside St Xavier School in Sion.

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On October 25, 2022, the infant was stolen while the complainant, her husband and three children were sleeping on the footpath near St Xavier School. Three persons—Mohammed Hanif Iqbal Memon, Afrin Hanif Menon and Santosh Shivaji Dhumale—were arrested and the baby girl was handed over to her parents.

It was alleged that Anjamma Bhimshappa Shanivar and her husband Bhimshappa Naggappa Shanivar wanted a child. They encountered the accused and agreed to purchase the child from Santosh Dhumale. Thereafter, the accused hatched a conspiracy and stole the girl child from Sion and sold it to Anjamma and Bhimshappa for ₹3 lakh.

The three women, who are likely to face arrest are Rubina Chauhan, Namrata Toraskar and Kanta Pednekar.

The police claimed that “Chauhan knowing well that selling a child is a serious offence yet sold the minor child for monetary gain. The amount she received from the sale was seized from her house.”

“Toraskar had forwarded the photographs of the girl to the main accused Santosh Dhumale and the couple who purchased the child, and thereby acted as an agent for ₹5,000 in the said deal,” the police added.

The police claimed that the two women were in constant touch with Santosh Dhumale.

Besides, the prosecution claimed, Pednekar is a neighbour of Toraskar. As per the prosecution, she had accompanied another accused when the baby was handed over to the couple.

The court said, “The offence is very serious.The helpless child was sold to the couple by the main accused with the help of these applicants.” The role of each applicant is prominent to commit the offence in question, it added.