SALEM: A couple in Salem has been booked for allegedly selling their newborn daughter for Rs 1.20 lakh. Police have also named two others, including the buyer, in the case.
Police said, Santhosh (25), a daily wage worker, and his wife Sivagami, a homemaker from Magudanchavadi, sold their baby to Ranjith, a daily wage labourer from Bengaluru.
The baby, born earlier this month in a private hospital in Bengaluru, is the couple’s second child; the two already have a three-year-old son. Police added that the couple met Ranjith through regular visits to a church in Maniyanur, Salem.
Police have also implicated Devaraj, a relative of the couple, for facilitating the transaction. The matter came to light after a field nurse from the Veerapandi Primary Health Centre, during a routine house visit, noticed the infant was missing. She alerted the child helpline (1098), which passed on the information to the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU).
Following inquiries, the DCPU lodged a complaint with the all-women police station in Sangagiri, leading to the registration of a case against the four.
Officials confirmed the baby has since been reunited with the mother.