Mother among 3 held for selling infant in TN

Chennai, March 25 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Police have arrested three people, including a mother for selling her eight-month-old baby boy for a sum of Rs 1.5 lakh.The police swung into action after a Child Welfare Committee member Lalitha, from Royapuram, filed a complaint with the Sembium police in Erode that a woman, Udaya (26), along with her husband Manikantan (32), had sold their eight-month-old son.The Sembium police registered a case under Section 317 (parents of a child under 12 or having the care of such a child, if exposes or leaves the child in any place with the intention of wholly abandoning him or her, shall be punished) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 81 of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.They have also taken Udaya into custody, who during interrogation, revealed that she had handed over the child to one Jhansi Rani alias Arathi (29) in Alandur. Arathi, however, informed the police that she had later handed over the child to a Kavitha in Erode.Kavitha, who has been arrested, told the police that her relative Saveetha (42) and husband Thangavel did not have children and wanted to adopt a child. Therefore, she had handed over the child to them.The child is now under the custody of the child welfare committee.The infant's mother Udaya was arrested on Thursday night and will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Court on Friday.
--IANS aal/sks/dpb

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