Unemployed couple sells 3-month-old son for Rs 10,000

Coimbatore: A 22-year-old woman was arrested at Kangeyam in Tirupur district on Thursday for selling her three-month-old baby boy for Rs 10,000 to a couple, who were also taken into police custody.
The Kangeyam all-woman police have rescued the baby boy, who would be produced before the child welfare committee (CWC) on Friday.
An investigation officer said the woman, a native of Aarapalayam in Madurai district, had separated from her first husband around seven months ago and got married to N Murugan, 31, of Tirunelveli district.Employed with a textile mill in Tirupur, the woman was living in a rent house near Kangeyam with Murugan, an earthmover driver.
According to the officer, the woman delivered the baby boy three months ago. “She did not go for work after the delivery. Her husband was also out of work because of the lockdown and they were struggling to lead a life. So, they decided to sell the infant,” the officer said quoting the statement of the infant’s mother.
The toddler was subsequently sold to Viswanathan, 40 and his wife V Vijaya, 34, of Keeranur near Kangeyam, who didn’t have a baby in their 20 years of married life. “They offered to pay Rs 10,000 for the child.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the child was handed over to Viswanathan and his wife. Meanwhile, the Child Line got a tip about the sale of the infant and its member P Madhavan, 21, lodged a complaint with the Kangeyam all-woman police inspector Hemalatha, who registered a case against both the couples under Section 81 of Juvenile Justice (care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Police arrested the baby’s mother and the couple who bought it, while Murugan went into hiding.
The arrested three were produced before a judicial magistrate, who directed police to produce the baby boy before the CWC on Friday morning and sent the mother to a shelter home. The couple who bought the child were let off on bail.