One of the twin girls, recovered by the police after being sold by their mother and sent to a government-recognised adoption home at Alangulam in Tirunelveli, died on Thursday.
Police said the mother of the girls, Selvi of Naduvakurichi, was deserted by her husband when she was six months pregnant. On January 18 this year, Selvi gave birth to twin girls at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital. Unable to raise them, she sold them to two couples.
Suthamalli Police registered a case on June 13 and arrested six persons - Selvi(33), Fathima(38), Velusami(50) and Sulaiha (60) of Melapalayam, Ponnuthai of Sambavarvadakarai, and Munneswaran (49) of Tenkasi.
They rescued the twins and, after getting permission from the Cheranmahadevi Judicial Magistrate, handed the children over to Tirunelveli Child Welfare Committee (CWC), which gave temporary custody of the children to ‘Vidiyal Home’, a government-recognised adoption unit at Alangulam. But, around 1 am on Thursday, five-month-old Kajal developed fits and was put on oxygen, Vidiyal Home director Fr Motchairajan said. “Her condition worsened, and she was rushed in an 108 Ambulance to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital where doctors declared her ‘brought dead’,” he added. “It was the first time that Kajal had fallen ill after she was brought here 13 days ago. After autopsy, the child’s body was buried. Her sister Kayal is in good health in the Home,” he added. On Wednesday, one of the arrested persons, Velusami, who came out on bail recently, died at the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, police said.