Newborn child trafficked for Rs 3 lakh, rescued by police

Born to a rape victim, grandparents of the child refuse to accept him

Mahesh Sharma|

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 27

The newborn son of a rape victim, who was allegedly sold to a Dehradun-based family for Rs 3 lakh, has been rescued but nobody is ready to accept him.

While his biological father is behind the bar for allegedly raping his mother, the parents of the victim are not ready to accept him fearing social stigma.

Presently, the child is under the care of Dehlon police who have recovered him from the woman identified as Neelam Kaushal of Ahir Mandi Dehradun in Uttrakhand. The other accused arrested in the case have been identified as Surjit Singh of Phillaur (sweeper at Civil Hospital) and his friend Jasvir Singh of Mullanpur.

Investigations revealed that the Dehlon police led by SHO Manjit Kaur had rounded up Surjit Singh and Jasbir Kaur from Ludhiana on Monday afternoon who revealed the sequence of events leading to illegal trafficking of the child. The child was born to the 19-year-old rape victim at Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, about a month ago and was allegedly sold to Neelam of Dehradun for Rs 3lakh.

The Dehlon police had initiated a probe into the incident in which a family of Duley village had allegedly attempted to get rid of the newborn male child, who was born to their daughter at Civil Hospital at Ludhiana on July 27.

Though the complainant had reported that the child was handed over to an employee of the hospital, Surjit Singh, for the fear of social stigma, the police suspected that some financial transaction had taken between the family of the victim and the one who adopted the child.

Raj Kumar of Duley, a brother-in-law of complainant Nirmala Devi (mother of the victim) was arrested by the police for allegedly raping the victim.

The family came to know about the incident after the victim gave birth to a male child at Civil Hospital in Ludhiana where she was admitted for treatment of abdominal pain during the last week of July 2018. Fearing social stigma, Nirmala Devi and her husband were reportedly gave the child to a sweeper of the hospital Surjit Singh of Phillaur.

Having confirmed child trafficking, the Dehlon police added Section 370, 420 and 120 B of the IPC in the case and arrested Surjit Singh, Jasvir Singh and Neelam from different places.

The case

The family of the victim came to know about the incident after the victim gave birth to a baby boy at Civil Hospital where she was admitted for treatment of abdominal pain, during the last week of July 2018. Fearing social stigma, partents of the victim reportedly gave the child to a sweeper of the hospital, Surjit Singh of Phillaur. He further allegedly sold him to a Dehradun-based family for Rs 3 lakh. His biological father is behind the bars for allegedly raping the victim.

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