Mom sells baby, stages accident to mislead cops in Hyderabad

According to the police, D Vijayalakshmi (30), who eked out a living by begging near the Secunderabad Railway Station, allegedly sold her son, Akhil, due to poverty

Hyderabad: A 10-month-old baby boy, who was sold by his own mother for Rs 60,000, was rescued by the LB Nagar police and shifted to Shishu Vihar. The mother, who cooked up a kidnap story and even staged an accident to mislead the police, was arrested along with the man who ‘purchased’ the baby.

According to the police, D Vijayalakshmi (30), who eked out a living by begging near the Secunderabad Railway Station, allegedly sold her son, Akhil, due to poverty. She then lodged a complaint with the police stating that an unidentified couple kidnapped Akhil at Gunti Jangaiah Colony in LB Nagar.

She said the couple, who came on a scooter, hit her. When she fell unconscious, they picked up Akhil and fled, she alleged. The police, who collected surveillance camera footage from the spot, identified the registration number of the scooter and tracked down the vehicle owner, Oraganti Mosha — a pushcart vendor from Chatanpally in Farooq Nagar of Ranga Reddy district.

The police arrested Mosha, and during questioning, he confessed that Vijayalakshmi actually sold the baby to him. He also said that the accident scene was staged. “He confessed to have purchased the infant from Vijayalakshmi for Rs 60,000 in Shadnagar recently. When we questioned the mother, she too confessed to selling the child due to poverty,” police said, adding that the woman approached other people in Shadnagar as well to sell the child. But, she struck a deal with Mosha.

The infant was handed over to the Child Welfare Committee, who shifted him to Shishu Vihar in Yousufguda for safe custody, while Vijayalakshmi and Mosha were produced before court and remanded in judicial custody.