Baby's sister found, handed over to mother

Two daughters, two conflicting emotions, and a mother torn in between. Munni Khatoon didn't quite know what to make of Tuesday.

Two daughters, two conflicting emotions, and a mother torn in between. Munni Khatoon didn't quite know what to make of Tuesday.

She was reunited with her three-and-a-half-year-old child rescued from Muzaffarpur in Bihar, but her other daughter — the battered two-year-old baby — continued to fight for life at the AIIMS trauma centre.

Munni recognised her elder daughter with the help of an MMS sent by a police officer. "We recovered the child from the neighbours of Laxmi's relative in Muzaffarpur's Mithanpur area," said DCP (south) Chhaya Sharma.

Police said it was to Laxmi that Munni was coaxed into handing over her daughters and five-year-old son when a gang tricked her into marrying a man in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan and made Rs 3 lakh out of the deal.

"The gang told Munni her children would be taken care of when, in fact, they were looking to get them off their hands," Sharma said.

Munni has been given interim custody of her elder daughter by the child welfare committee (CWC). "A final decision (on the custody) will be taken after the police submits a report," a CWC member said.

The Delhi Police were also asked to prepare a report on the battered baby in AIIMS by the home ministry on Tuesday.

The police arrested two men, Rana and Rahul, for allegedly pushing the 14-year-old girl, who brought the baby to AIIMS, into prostitution. They will be in police remand for two days.