30 infants sold in TN by trafficking gang, govt suspects number could be higher

This number was arrived upon, according to the police and government, based on the survey being conducted by the Health Department.

news Crime

Amongst the areas focused on for the survey are Namakkal, Kodaikanal, Valparai, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri. Kalrayan hills. Villages were the first priority, then areas which were remote and had spare population and finally children born with the help of infertility clinics. Records from the last three years were scrutinised.

Investigating officials probing the Namakkal baby trade have said that 30 babies have been sold by the eight accused involved in the case in almost three years. According to the police and government, this number was arrived upon based on the survey being conducted by the Health Department.

Of the 30 babies sold so far, 24 are girls, while six are boys. The CBCID that is investigating the case made another arrest on Friday, of a woman broker named Santhi who played an important role in the trade. She was nabbed based on the information from the other accused. She was a nursing assistant at a primary health care centre at Sarkar Kollapatty. With this arrest, the total number of accused in the case has risen to 9. The gang used to make vulnerable parents sell their infants for a price and then re-sell the babies to other couples. While investigating officials had initially told TNM that they suspected the total number of babies sold to be around 14, the Health Department confirms that data provided based on discrepancies in birth records has brought the number to 30.

Speaking to TNM, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh, confirmed that her department was continuously updating the police on information found in their survey. Amongst the areas focused on for the survey are Namakkal, Kodaikanal, Valparai, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri. Kalrayan hills. Villages were the first priority, then areas which were remote and had spare population and finally children born with the help of infertility clinics. Records from the last three years were scrutinised.

"The situation currently is such that it is nearly impossible to obtain a birth certificate using false information. This is because the Revenue district official handles this matter and whenever there is a late registration of birth there is a thorough check and even an inquiry conducted with neighbours. So the only way for these people to get a birth certificate is to produce a false one," says Director of Public Health K Kolandasamy. "However our certificates have bar codes that cannot be duplicated. That is one way we found the other children who were missing. In addition to this, we have been checking maternal records, death certificates for children and other details. Whatever information we had till now we have given to the CB CID which has helped them arrive at this number," he adds.

However, the Director believes the numbers are likely to go up.

"The survey is yet to be completed the number of children is likely to go up as we move to other districts. We would be happy if it doesn't," he says. "The next step we have to see where these children are and what the means of adoption was. The police, social welfare department and health department are working together on this," he adds.

Of the men and women arrested, most are health care professionals with three of them linked to government hospitals.

"We are working on how to stop this menace of selling children," says the Director. "Irrespective of whether they are government staff or not, stringent punishments will be given to stop this completely."