India: Police uncover ‘baby farm’ which sold and swapped infants for US$1,400
(File photo). A newborn baby boy is weighed on a scale at a government hospital in Mumbai, India. Pic: AP.
20th April 2016
POLICE in India have uncovered a syndicate operating a ‘baby farm’ from a private hospital in the Gwailor district of the central Madhya Pradesh state which sold abandoned infants.
The major exposé was reported in the Times of India which found that the newborns were treated as commodities and were either being sold or swapped for Rs 1 lakh (US$1,400) each.
The police also found that the babies born out of wedlock, either through rape or illicit relationships, who ended up at the hospital were put up for adoption for that price. So far, two newborns have been rescued from the 30-bed hospital located in the Murar area.
Police mounted the raid on the hospital last Saturday after receiving a tip-off on infant trafficking activities.
The hospital’s director T.K. Gupta was among the five arrested in connection with the case, along with a manager and the parents who bought the babies. They have been accused of numerous slavery and prostitution charges.
Crime Branch Assistant Superintendent Prateek Kumar confirmed that three babies were sold to childless couples in Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
“During interrogation, he (the manager) could not give us whereabouts of two babies that were found in the hospital,” he said, adding the manager had “agents” in the Chambal region who picked up girls carrying unwanted pregnancies.
Another investigating officer was quoted saying: “When a girl or her parents approached them for termination of pregnancies, doctors at this hospital used to convince them, assuring a safe and secret delivery.”
“Once baby is delivered and mother gets discharged, hospital authorities start hunting for gullible couples who could buy them.”
The report in the paper also pointed out a case in which a newborn girl was swapped with boy.
“A Gwalior-based couple had two boys. They swapped one of their boys with a girl at this hospital,” the officer said.
Police also said teams had been deployed to track those who bought the babies from the hospital, apart from launching an effort to rescue other babies that were sold.
