CHENNAI: High drama following a suspected case of child-kidnapping at the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital came to an end on Thursday, with the arrest of three persons, including the mother of the toddler, for selling her two-year-old baby girl for `2 lakh.
According to police, Mahalakshmi (20) had approached Washermanpet police on Wednesday evening with a complaint that her daughter was stolen by some person from the hospital where she had taken the child for treatment.
In the complaint, she said a woman, who had volunteered to help her clean the child after it attended nature’s call, had escaped with it.
But, the investigating officials grew suspicious of the complaint, and decided to closely scrutinise the version Mahalakshmi gave. As there were inconsistencies in her story, they intensified the grilling, which forced the young mother to come out with the truth.
Police learnt that Mahalakshmi, along with her relatives Desapattu and Muthukrishnan, had sold the girl child to one Suriya (39) of Royapettah, who was childless even after 13 years of marriage.
On investigation, it was revealed that the trio had got in touch with Suriya’s father Rajasekar, who came to know through Muthukrishnan that a child was available for adoption. “The three asked Rajasekar to reach Stanley Hospital at around noon on Wednesday and handed over the baby to him. Later, they approached the Washermanpet police and lodged a complaint,” said the investigating officials.
Police added that the three had promised Suriya and Rajasekar that the adoption certificates and other documents would be ready in a week, and collected the fixed amount of `2 lakh. On Thursday, Mahalakshmi and the other two, all residents of Kasimedu, were arrested for selling the child and cheating Suriya. They were charged under section 420 and 406 of the IPC, and were remanded in custody.