New born girl child ‘sold’ for Rs 10,000, Ghaziabad police takes up investigation

The FIR against the suspected couple was lodged at Vijay Nagar police station on September 11 upon complaint by a resident of Crossings Republik.

The Ghaziabad police are investigating a case lodged against a couple from Biharipura in Vijay Nagar for allegedly selling their newborn girl child to another couple from Adarsh Nagar for Rs 10,000.

The police said that the FIR against the couple was lodged at Vijay Nagar police station on September 11 upon complaint by a resident of Crossings Republik.

According to the district administration officials, the child was born on August 24. The suspect couple is also parent to a boy and four other girls.

On September 11, the complainant in the case, Akanksha Pandey, came to know about the alleged incident from her domestic help, officials said. The domestic help told Pandey that the suspect couple had given away their newborn girl child to another couple for Rs 10,000.

“After my domestic help told me about the incident, I approached the police and also got in touch with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights besides writing about the matter on social media,” Pandey said.

“However, a woman officer investigating the case showed me an affidavit claiming that the suspect couple had given their baby up for adoption and proceedings were on in the court for the adoption process. When I observed the stamp paper, it turned out to be about two years old and invalid,” she said.

According to district probation officer Vikas Chandra, any adoption taken up by people, other than those who are not in blood-relation, has to be done through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) after which a systematic procedure needs to be followed.

“The suspect couple also told us that they have got the adoption papers registered at the sub registrar’s office. However, we informed the child helpline and the child welfare committee and the girl child was taken away from the Adarsh Nagar couple and shifted to the newborn care centre at MMG Hospital,” Jitendra Kumar, protection officer, Ghaziabad, said.

Based on Pandey’s complaint, the Vijay Nagar police registered an FIR under IPC section 370 (6) (whoever for the purpose of exploitation, recruits, transports, harbours, transfers, or receives a person or persons by inducement, including the giving or receiving of payments or benefits).

“The FIR was registered as it came to light that the parents of the girl child and the Adarsh Nagar couple were not related to each other. In such cases, the adoption procedure has to be routed through CARA. The investigation will bring out whether any money was exchanged or not,” Shlok Kumar, superintendent of police (city), said.

Pandey, however, had claimed that she had some trouble with the police initially and her domestic help faced hostility after the complaint was filed.

“The station house officer of Vijay Nagar police station and the police-post in-charge appreciated my action but the woman sub-inspector (SI) from Ghaziabad police’s anti-human trafficking unit was hell-bent on proving that my 30- year-old domestic was lying,” Pandey said. “My domestic help was not allowed to enter her house by some locals in her area after they came to know that she gave me information. The father of the girl child even went to her house and harassed her. The SI kept telling me that my domestic help was lying and also said that I should have gathered proof exchange of money between the two couples,” she added.

Reacting to Pandey’s allegation SP Kumar said, “We will ensure a fair and transparent investigation in the case. We will also question the concerned officials regarding the matter.”

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