Ballari: Couple buys newborn girl for Rs 20,000

Kampli: An incident of sale of a newborn girl for Rs 20,000 has come to light here. A childless couple from Ramsagar village allegedly bought the baby from Hiriyur in Chitradurga district. A case has been registered at the local police station after giving a girl child.

As per sources, Maulamma and Ramanjini couple from Ramasagar village were childless even after 20 years of wedlock. The couple had taken a baby girl to the Anganwadi for vaccination and the suspicious Anganwadi workers alerted the Child Protection Officer Channabasappa Patil. The sale of the child came to light on November 4 the officials visited the village and the couple about how they got hold of the baby.

It is gathered that the illegal transaction took place on September 1. A woman named Maniamma, who had rented a house in Ramsagar village a year ago, called the couple promising to arrange a newborn girl if Rs 20,000 is paid immediately at Hiriyur. On the same day, Maniamma handed over a baby girl near a hospital in Hiriyur on receiving the money. The couple brought the baby home and raised it as their own, sources said.

After the revelation, the baby was handed over to the Amulya Shishu Mandir situated at the premises of Government Model Girls Balamandira in Ballari.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered on November 16 at the Kapli police station against Maniamma who had sold the child, the biological parents of the girl, and the couple who bought the child.