Man on deathbed in Agra, wife ‘sells’ son for Rs 2.5L

In a shocking incident a migrant woman, Rita, of SBS Nagar, Ludhiana, allegedly sold her newborn child for only Rs 2.5 lakh when her husband was on deathbed hundreds of miles away in Agra, UP.

The illegal act was conducted allegedly in connivance with Rita’s mother Prema Devi, ASHA worker Renu, PRO of a private hospital and some accomplice yet to be identified.

Had the husband and father-in-law of the main accused not become suspicious about her statement regarding gender of the ‘still-born child’, the gang dealing in illicit trafficking of human babies could have remained untraced.

Though the Dugri police have registered an FIR under Sections 143 (4) and 61 (2) of the BNS after two months of the crime for alleged conspiracy to sell the newborn male child, the complainant Gajraj Singh, whose son has already died, has accused the investigating team of trying to shield the accused, who are absconding from their homes.

The complainant alleged that the FIR was registered only after office-bearers and activists of various social organisations led by sarpanch Sanjay Tewari came to his rescue and impressed upon the authorities concerned to either initiate action or face agitation. The leaders have now threatened to take organisational steps if all accused are not arrested by Wednesday morning, besides recovery of the child.

Gajraj said that Rita had given birth to a male child at the government hospital at Jawadi on July 15, but she had informed him that it was a dead girl, while informing his son Sunny that a male child had been born.

Both Gajraj and Sunny were in Agra, where the latter was undergoing treatment at Shanti Hospital there. Sunny died in Agra on July 21 and Rita returned with her mother to Ludhiana, thus prompting suspicion in Gajraj’s mind. Study of call recordings and inquiries from sources at various hospitals turned Gajraj’s suspicion into belief and he allegedly ran from pillar to post for around two months to get people involved in the sale of his grandson booked.

It was only after some meetings at the office of Tewari that involvement of various persons, including Rita, was established and an FIR got registered on Sunday afternoon.

Dugri SHO Ravinder Singh said that an FIR had been registered.