Main suspect in battered baby case arrested
Man had given two-year-old Falak to his teenage girlfriend
New Delhi: The Delhi Police have finally managed to arrest Rajkumar Gupta, the prime suspect in the baby Falak case, at New Delhi railway station.
Rajkumar is alleged to have handed over two-year-old Falak to his 14-year-old girlfriend, who allegedly in a fit of rage battered the child. She later took the bruised and badly beaten child to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre on January 18.
A woman named Pratima was also arrested from Patna in connection with the case. She was part of the human trafficking racket that exploited Rajkumar's girlfriend.
Abandoned
The story revolves around Munni. Originally from Bihar, Munni was abandoned by her first husband after they had three children — two daughters and a son. She was promised a job in Delhi by an acquaintance and moved to the capital with her children.
Two women, named Lakshmi and Kanta tried to force her into prostitution. But on her refusal, they encouraged her to marry a man from Rajasthan. The duo promised that he would eventually look after her three children. The man allegedly paid Rs200,000 (Dh14,662) to the women for arranging his marriage.
Munni then moved to Rajasthan, leaving her children behind.
While Lakshmi sent Munni's elder daughter Sanobar to a relative in Bihar, Falak was handed from one adult to another, till she ended up with Pratima and then the teenager. A police officer said Munni was traced to Rajasthan and brought to Delhi on February 6. A day later, Sanobar was found in Bihar and brought to Delhi. Falak's five-year-old brother, however, is still missing. About a dozen arrests have been made in the case.
Munni told police she was not allowed to keep her children after the remarriage.
DNA test
According to the police, those who looked after Munni subjected her to severe physical abuse. She was now being "treated as a victim and not as an accused."
Munni, who is staying at a shelter home for women in Delhi, has approached the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and said she would like to look after Falak.
A CWC official told Gulf News: "The police plan to run a DNA test to confirm Munni's relationship with Falak before letting her visit the baby."
The incident has blown the lid off a massive human trafficking racket in the capital.
