TIRUCHI
A two-and-a-half-month old girl child allegedly sold by its parents to a childless couple in October was rescued by the Tiruchi Rural Police on Saturday and handed over to the Childline.
The illegal act came to the light of the Uppiliapuram police a couple of days ago based on information following which a case was registered against the child's parents - Suresh and Prema, besides their relative Vellaiyammal, another woman by name Susheela and the childless couple Sakunthala and Subramanian who allegedly bought the kid.
The police arrested Vellayammal, Susheela and Sakunthala and are now on the lookout for the child's parents, besides Subramanian. Suresh and Prema are residents of Kollimalai in Namakkal district.
The child was born at a primary health centre in Uppiliapuram in Tiruchi district where Vellaiyammal resided. It was the third child for Suresh and Prema who already had a son and a daughter.
Police sources said Suresh and Prema through Vellaiyammal and Susheela, a village health volunteer, sold the child 10 days after it was born for ₹ one lakh.
A sum of ₹ 20,000 was paid to the child's parents as a token amount.
The sources said Vellayammal, Susheela and Sakunthala were arrested on Saturday, while the child's parents and Subramanian are absconding.
The Uppilipuram police registered a case.
The child was thereafter produced before the Child Welfare Committee here and admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital for medical observation.
