Maharashtra Couple 'Sells' Month-Old Baby To Spend On Luxury Lifestyle

A couple in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar "sold" their one-month-old child for over Rs 1 lakh. The reason was not 'necessity'.

Police have now arrested them, and rescued the baby from Hyderabad - a city that's over 550 kilometres away from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Other individuals involved in the case have also been arrested.

According to officials, the parents of the one-month-old sold their own child to fund their lavish lifestyle and hobbies, specifically to buy mobile phones and a gold chain for themselves.

The incident came to light on September 20, when the mother came to police and told her she had been beaten up. In the process of investigation into that incident, it was revealed that the parents had sold their one-month-old son.

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Four Deals, 550-km Journey

What's shocking is that the child was bought and sold as many as four times before being rescued from over 550 kilometres away.

According to police, the parents were in a live-in relationship and were residing in the Mukundwadi area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

To fund their lifestyle, they sold the baby to an intermediary named Seema Reshwal for Rs 1.2 lakh.

Seema then sold the baby to another woman, Sangeeta Avhad, a resident of Padegaon, for Rs 2.7 lakh.

This was barely the end.

The child then changed hands again, when Sangeeta took him and sold him to an alleged fake doctor named Suresh Guntuka for Rs 3.5 lakh.

The fake doctor then handed the baby over to a relative living in Hyderabad, identified as Uma Khatkam, for Rs 3.5 lakh.

Since the child was last sold to a Hyderabad resident, police reached the city to safely rescue the baby from the city. An effort is on to bring the child back to Maharashtra.

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Case Registered, 7 Arrested

Pundliknagar police inspector Vivek Sonawane has launched a crackdown to arrest all the accused in the case.

Police have already arrested even people, including the parents, agents Seema Reshwal and Sangeeta Avhad (from Padegaon), and the alleged fake doctor, Suresh Guntuka.

A case has been filed under relevant sections of the law against the biological parents of the baby, as well as the four middlemen involved in the transaction.

Police have also seized two new expensive mobile phones and the gold chain that the parents purchased using the money they got by selling their child.

An investigation is on to ascertain whether the middlemen, including the fake doctor, have sold other children in the past.