Thiruvananthapuram: A baby girl, sold by her parents from Kunisseri in Kerala’s Palakkad district has been located in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district, ending the suspense about whether or not the infant would ever be traced.
The baby was sold by her mother, her husband who is a native of Pollachi in Tamil Nadu, and his mother, on December 29 last year, only four days after the baby girl was born on Christmas day.
Police have arrested a man identified as Janardanan, who is believed to have bought the child, and the infant has been moved to a care centre in Malampuzha in Palakkad district.
Local media had reported that the family sold the baby on the advice of the paternal grandmother because the couple already had four children and foresaw financial difficulties in raising another child. The couple reportedly got Rs100,000 (Dh5,775) by selling their child.
The matter came to light when neighbours noticed that the mother who had gone for delivery had returned without a child. They then intimated officials and the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare ordered a probe into the matter.
The council had earlier received complaints that a racket involved in sale of newborns had been functioning around some hospitals in Kerala.
The Kerala government already has ‘Ammathottil’ or cradles established under the child welfare council, where parents are encouraged to leave their babies if they are unable to raise them. These cradles have been set up in all districts.
