5 Arrested in Tamil Nadu For Selling Newborn Boy For Rs 1.5 Lakh

In a disturbing case of child trafficking, five people, including the father of a newborn, have been arrested in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvarur district for allegedly selling the infant for Rs 1.5 lakh. The male baby has been rescued and is currently under the care of a government-run children's home.

The case came to light after a widow, Santoshkumari, alerted police that Dinesh, a local man with whom she had been in a relationship, along with his mother and others, forcibly took away her newborn baby on July 25 while she was returning home from the Thanjavur Government Medical College Hospital, where she had delivered the baby on July 13.

Dinesh, who is married and has a child of his own, allegedly conspired with his mother Vasugi and a broker named Vinoth to sell the baby to a childless couple, Radhakrishnan, a  Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) employee, and his wife Vimala, from Adichapuram village in Mannargudi taluk.

Following the complaint, police registered a case and arrested all five accused: Dinesh, his mother Vasugi, broker Vinoth, and the couple who bought the baby. The infant was successfully traced and rescued by authorities.

"We do not want to endanger the newborn by returning him to the mother immediately," a senior police officer told NDTV. "He will be handed over only after proper counselling and evaluation."

Tamil Nadu has had a Cradle Baby Scheme since the 1990s, an initiative that allows parents to safely and anonymously surrender unwanted newborns at designated government hospitals and child welfare centers. The scheme was introduced to combat female infanticide and ensure the safety of abandoned children.