4 woman among five detained for selling infant, boy rescued

Four women and another person were taken into police custody on Monday in connection with the illegal sale of a six-month-old boy for ₹4 lakh, Belagavi superintendent of police Bhimashankar Guled said, adding that the infant was separated from his mother when he was three-months-old

Four women and another person were taken into police custody on Monday in connection with the illegal sale of a six-month-old boy for ₹4 lakh, Belagavi superintendent of police Bhimashankar Guled said, adding that the infant was separated from his mother when he was three-months-old.

Following the complaint, police formed four teams to investigate the matter (Representational image)

In a media briefing on Monday, SP Guled said that a woman, whose identity was not disclosed, had entrusted her three-month-old baby to Lakshmi, a marriage broker who had arranged her second marriage. “Lakshmi, who was involved in the woman’s wedding, took the baby by telling her that the newlyweds should have some time alone,” he said.

“Lakshmi then handed over the child to Sangeeta, a woman from Kolhapur, who in turn, sold the baby to Anasuya of Halyal in Uttara Kannada. Anasuya then sold the infant to Dilshad, a resident of Belagavi, for ₹4 lakh. Dilshad and her husband, who already had two daughters, purchased the child because they wanted a male heir,” he said.

“Anasuya informed Dilshad that the child was orphaned. However, after three months, the baby’s mother, from Sultanpur in Hukkeri taluk, contacted Lakshmi to inquire about her child. When Lakshmi did not respond, the distressed mother reached out to an NGO, which helped her bring the case to police’s attention last week,” he said.