Girl child sold by father brought back by Andhra police to mother after 16 months

Andhra Pradesh Police successfully handed over one-year-old baby girl to a woman whose husband had allegedly sold their baby to a relative 16 months ago in Valasapalli village of Musunuru mandal, Krishna district.

A woman recently came to know that her daughter was sold one year ago by her husband following which the woman filed a police complaint. Though the case is under investigation, the police brought the baby and handed over to her.

This long twisty tale took place in Valasapalli village of Musunuru mandal, Krishna district.

Raj is the wife of Naveen Babu. They had three daughters. 16 months ago Raj delivered a baby girl. When she was in the hospital, her husband sold the three days' old baby to some distant relatives.

Naveen and his parents are successful in hiding the matter all these days. The marital life of Raj and Naveen has not been good, he used to beat her.

Two weeks ago Raj has filed a case of domestic violence on her husband.

A few days ago a clash occurred between Naveen and his parents regarding cash. Then Raj came to know that Naveen had sold her daughter for Rs 1.50 lakhs. When she asked her in-laws and husband about the fourth daughter, she was allegedly beaten by them. Raj escaped from her in-laws' place. She went to Musunuru police station along with her parents on 30th August and complained about the sale of her daughter.

Sub Inspector Raja Reddy said that "Raj has complained to us that her fourth daughter was sold on the third day of delivery, without her knowledge. We filed a case and inquired about it. We came to know that the baby girl is with Darsarath, Sunita couple of Gollapalli village. We went to Gollapalli. There they said that they had adopted the girl child on 3rd day after birth. Now the baby's age is one year and four months. As the couple did not properly follow the legal procedure of adoption, we will rescue the baby in presence of ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) staff and handover to the parents. We will investigate the case and take appropriate legal action."

After that, the police called on the foster parents to the police station, took photographs and held some inquiry and sent them back on 31st August. Raj thought that the police are colluding with them and not helping her. She approached Nuzividu MLA MVP Apparao.

Today morning Musunuru Sub Inspector brought the baby from the foster parents and handed over to the mother. He said that "Based on the complaint by Raj, we have brought the baby to Musunuru PS with the help of ICDS staff. We called the parents but they were at some distance then and the day was sunny. Further, the baby cannot be kept at the station, so we dropped the baby to their place and handed over to the mother. Further investigation will continue."

However, the foster parents Sunita and Dasarath are saying that they did not buy the baby for cash. They lament that they had lost two sons at the age of 18 years. So they wanted to adopt a baby girl. Naveen family are distant relatives to them. When they had fourth consecutive girl, they offered to give away that baby girl. We wanted to complete the document process properly but they were reluctant then, said Sunita. Now after more than a year, they are taking away my baby, she cried.

( With inputs from ANI )