Baby ‘mortgaged’ to foot medical bill

Vain bid to legalise sale of another baby through adoption

A baby was allegedly mortgaged while another was sold away in two incidents that came to light recently. Another infant, abandoned by parents, died in the Government General Hospital (GGH) in Vijayawada.

A baby boy was reportedly mortgaged for ₹50,000 to foot the medical bill of his mother at S.N. Gollapalem village in Machilipatnam Rural mandal of Krishna district.

“Shaik Abeeda delivered a male baby in the local government hospital on January 22. Unable to take care of it, she reportedly gave the baby to an ayah (class IV worker), who handover the boy to a couple, Jyothi and Chakrapani,” said Bandar Rural SI K. Srinivas.

Mr. Chakrapani spent about ₹50,000 towards the medical expenses of the mother and the child and Abeeda mortgaged the boy till she could repay the debt, it is alleged.

“We acted on a phone call, but there was no complaint. Police questioned the ayah, Chakrapani and the biological mother. The baby has been handed over to Abeeda,” said the SI.

Invalid adoption

In another case, a couple reportedly sold their three-month-old baby girl to a childless couple at Penamaluru on the outskirts of Vijayawada. Both parties registered the adoption under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA), 1956.

However, the registration was not valid as the biological parents belonged to Muslim community and the adopted parents were Hindus. HAMA was valid only when both parties are Hindus and blood relatives, said District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Ch. Vijay Kumar.

“As the biological mother refused to take care of the baby due to poverty, the Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) Department will take relinquishment deed from the mother and give the baby for adoption after waiting for two months,” said Child Protection Officer of Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) Y. Johnson.

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has ordered an inquiry into the alleged sale of the baby, the DCPO said.

Meanwhile, an unidentified woman delivered a baby at a hospital and later fled. As the baby’s health condition was not good, she was admitted to the GGH, where she died on Thursday, said WD&CW Krishna district Project Director K. Krishna Kumari.