Girl child sold at a Bihar nursing home for ₹65,000, 2 arrested

Ravi, who had forged educational documents to falsely claim to be a doctor, said he used to sell babies abandoned by parents after delivery at his nursing home for anything between ₹85,000 and ₹1.5 lakh.

Owner of a private nursing home in Bihar’s Madhepura district was among the two arrested on Friday for trafficking an infant girl for ₹65,000. Police investigations so far suggest the presence of an elaborate trafficking network spread across the state’s Kosi region.

Investigations revealed the trafficking racket was running at the nursing home for the last two years with the assistance of agents across the Kosi region. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The unregistered nursing home called Baba Vishnu Raut Hospital was found operating with untrained staff and was sealed after its patients were shifted to a nearby primary health centre.

Acting on a tip-off, Madhepura district magistrate (DM) Shyam Bihari Meena constituted a team under Udakishunganj sub divisional magistrate (SDM) Rajiv Ranjan Kumar Singh to probe the nursing home’s alleged involvement in infant trafficking. The nursing home owner R K Ravi was arrested red handed along with a staff member named Navin Kumar while receiving ₹65,000 to sell an infant delivered at the centre. The infant was later shifted to Madhepura sadar hospital. and staff

Ravi, who had forged educational documents to falsely claim to be a doctor, said he used to sell babies abandoned by parents after delivery at his nursing home for anything between ₹85,000 and ₹1.5 lakh. The police said they were yet to establish the identity of the child’s parents.

The SDM said investigations revealed the trafficking racket was running at the nursing home for the last two years with the assistance of agents across the Kosi region. The SDM said some other private nursing homes and hospitals in Madhepura too were under the police scanner for running similar rackets.

Madhepura police registered a case against the duo under Section 372 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for trafficking minors, which is punishable with 10 years in jail if proven guilty. Effort is also on to ascertain identities of doctors who worked on call at the unregistered and illegally-run nursing home.