Newborn baby sold for Rs 1 lakh in Thane district; four booked

Thane, Oct 17 (PTI) A case has been registered against four persons for allegedly selling and purchasing a 17-day-old baby boy for Rs 1 lakh in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Friday.

A couple from Kalyan taluka allegedly sold their son to a man and a woman from Raigad district on October 14, an official said.

A first information report (FIR) has been registered against them under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, said API Pankaj Giri of the Kalyan taluka police station.

He said the infant's parents already have a four-year-old son, and they claimed they could not care for the newborn and feared for the woman's health due to her previous miscarriages.

The Raigad couple purchased the baby for Rs 1 lakh, the official said, adding that the illegal transaction was brought to light by the Women and Child Welfare (WCW) department.

Ramkrishna Reddy, the Women and Child Welfare Officer for Thane district, said, "The WCW team department got a tip of the illegal transaction, following which they traced the couples, rescued the baby, and involved the police in the probe." PTI COR ARU