Alleged sale of just-born in Tiruvallur, probe under way

CHENNAI: Tiruvallur police are probing into an incident of the alleged sale of a just-born by its mother in Mappedu village.

While police rescued the five-day-old boy and handed him over to the Child Welfare Committee, the boy's mother Chandra (29) of Satharai village was detained for inquiry.

Police suspect that she might have decided to sell the child as she was finding it difficult to meet the daily expenses of the family, though she denied taking money in exchange for the child. Police are inquiring if the child's father Nambirajan, an agricultural labourer, had any role in the sale. Chandra, who is already a mother to two children, reportedly told police she gave out the child as her husband was addicted to liquor and irregular to work.

The incident came to light after the villagers informed Mappedu police that Chandra who delivered the child at a Primary Health Centre in Perambakkam returned home empty-handed on Monday. After inquiring Chandra, police rescued the boy from a woman named Jayanthi, who allegedly bought him for a relative couple. Jayanthi is yet to be inquired about, said police.