TIRUPUR: A homeless quarry-worker couple from Karur sold their newborn male for `1 lakh, as they did not have enough money to raise him. Though the baby was sold two months ago, the incident came to light only on Wednesday evening after Childline (1098) officials in the district received a complaint from a relative of the couple.
The 23-year-old mother had given birth to a girl two years ago and the birth of the second child became a burden to the poverty-stricken couple, who were already struggling to raise their first child. A person who visited the couple told them he would introduce them to a childless couple who would buy their baby boy.
Eventually, the two couples clinched a deal and the child was sold for `1 lakh a few days later.
In November, the homeless couple and their daughter shifted to Kangayam in Tirupur district, to work on a construction site, and on Wednesday, one of their relatives from Kallupatti village called the Childline officials here and told them about the sale of the baby.
The officials then traced the baby’s biological parents and the couple from Karur who bought the child. During an enquiry by officials of Childline, District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Tirupur district, both parties confessed to the sale of the baby. However, the biological parents were unwilling to take back their child as they had already spent a huge chunk of the money they received from the sale and said they could not afford to raise another child.
The officials of Tirupur district referred the case to the CWC of Karur district on Thursday and the Karur district CWC staff held an enquiry. An official at the DCPU, Karur, told Express that the biological parents and the couple who bought the child would be tried for illegal adoption. As of Thursday evening, the baby boy remained with the couple who bought him.