Poverty has forced a few women in Andhra Pradesh to sell their babies. In two cases reported in Eluru and Mangalagiri in the past three or four days, the women gave statements that their family members sold the babies unable to care for them.
“Earlier, we have seen cases of issueless couples resorting to illegal adoptions and purchasing babies. But now infants are put up for sale in the market by some gangs in the State. This is pathetic,” a child protection officer said.
A three-day-old baby boy was exchanged hands with ₹1 lakh accruing to the biological parents at a private hospital in Aswaraopet, a village on the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana border. A Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) was at the centre of the racket. The baby’s father, Ganta Arun Kumar, and grandmother Ganta Mary reportedly sold the newborn to the RMP for ₹2 lakh. The baby was then sold to a Visakhapatnam couple for ₹3 lakh. The infant was eventually sold to an Anakapalli couple for ₹5 lakh.
