As police rescue babies, couple who 'bought' them worry for their well-being

Acting on a tip-off, police on May 28 arrested 11 people for interstate child trafficking and rescued at least 13 babies in Hyderabad.

While the babies have been handed over to the state's women and child development department, those who had “purchased” them are now worried about who will take care of them, according to a report published in The Indian Express.

The Hyderabad police busted a child trafficking ring and rescued babies from a gang that 'sold' them to childless couples in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

During investigation, it was revealed that they got the babies of three people in Delhi and Pune. Nearly 50 babies were supplied to them, who then sold them to childless couples through agents for a price ranging from Rs 1.80 lakh to Rs 5.50 lakh per baby, police said.

While the police took away the babies from the couples, they also charged them with charges under child trafficking sections and the Juvenile Justice Act.

“The couples, as well as the two women who had 'bought' the children, had bonded with them… But what they did was illegal,” Inspector Govind Reddy told the publication.

A woman who “bought” a three-month-old baby has admitted that her husband warned her against it and assured her that she would take care of the child.

“We are childless after years of marriage, and this girl has brought so much joy to our lives,” THAT'S TO SAY she was quoted as saying.

” I do not know what to do. In an instant, my life was over, my baby was taken from me. I don't care if it's illegal, I took care of him like a mother…like he was my own child. What's the point of taking him now? asked another woman.

Several couples stood in front of the vehicles and begged the police to return the babies.

Shedding light on the process in which this racket operated, an investigator said the couples “chose” the babies after seeing images of them on WhatsApp because they believed they were giving them a new life. After the couples “chose” the baby and paid for it in full, the child was brought to them from New Delhi or Pune by train or private transport and handed over in the night.

Police are now on their way to Delhi to try to track down the officers involved in the trafficking and also trace the babies' biological parents. In the event that the cops are unable to find the parents, the children would be put up for adoption and the couples could then legally adopt the babies.

(With PTI inputs)