VIJAYAWADA: Officials of the Women and Child Welfare Department and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) of Eluru district busted a child trafficking racket and rescued a baby girl on Thursday. Based on a complaint from the officials of District Child Protection Units (DCPUs), Eluru police arrested four persons in connection with the child trafficking racket. The DCPU officials received a complaint from an Anganwadi worker that a 16-year-old minor girl, who is an alleged rape victim, gave birth to a girl on June 4 at Eluru GGH and returned home without the baby.
“The family members reportedly handed over the baby girl to a woman from Eluru and she sold the newborn to a Guntur-based Muslim couple through two women. The matter was brought to the notice of DCPU and ICDS, which formed a special team and traced the baby girl with the help of police. The rescued baby was sent to the Child Protection Centre and the matter is under investigation,” said Eluru District Collector V Prasanna Venkatesh.
Eluru SP Rahul Dev Sharma said the prime accused, Nagamani, came to know about the minor girl giving birth to a baby on June 7 and approached her family members in the guise of helping them. Stating that she could help the family personally and financially by giving the baby girl for adoption, Nagamani took the baby into her custody and informed the same to two Sarada and Vijaya Lakshmi. Through Vijaya Lakshmi, Nagamani sold the baby to a Guntur-based couple who were desperate to have a child. Taking advantage of their situation, Vijaya Lakshmi made a deal and sold the baby for Rs 2.8 lakh. A case has been registered against them, the SP said.