CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu police have traced a 20-day-old boy to Bengaluru after his minor mother and grandmother sold the infant.
The police from Madurai traced the child from Peraliyur to Bengaluru after a nurse alerted the police that something fishy had happened to the child.
According to the police, a 16 year old girl, who was a school drop out, developed a relationship with a neighbour and was impregnated. The girl’s family came to know of it much later when an abortion was not feasible.
The girl was taken to a local Public Health Centre on August 7 and the nurse at the hospital, Gandhimathi alerted the police who swung into action. The man who had impregnated the minor girl was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Abuses (POCSO) Act. The girl and the child were subsequently referred to Government Rajaji Medical College Hospital on August 8 for further treatment.
The family however left the hospital without informing the authorities on August 12. Officials of the medical college hospital informed the village nurse Gandhimati who enquired with the child’s family but found their responses to be without clarity.
The nurse informed the Peraliyur police who registered a case and picked up the mother of the minor girl. On interrogation she told the police that the child was handed over to one Sundaralingam who was residing at Meiyanuthampatti.
The investigation led to an advocate Thamaraiselvan who belonged to Usilampatti and from him it was learned that the boy was with one Karthik in Erode. Karthik on questioning said that the child was in the hands of Karthikeyan and Srinivasan who were from Bengaluru.
The duo was questioned and they revealed that the baby was sold to one Tejeswari who was an officer with the Life Insurance Corporation. The police learnt that an amount of Rs 8.6 lakh changed hands among different persons during the journey of the child from Madurai to Bengaluru.
The police took the woman and the child into custody. They will be brought back to Madurai after being producing before a magistrate's court.