Single mother sells her 10-day-old baby for Rs16,000, held

Vijayawada: Vijayawada police arrested a woman who sold her 10-day-old infant to another woman at Chuttugunta area in the city on Saturday. Though the incident occurred a week ago, it came to light this morning when the police took the woman into custody.

The police said that the woman, V. Bala Nagamma, gave birth to a baby boy on April 7 at the Government Hospital in Vijayawada. Rani, who has been working as the security guard at the hospital, came to know that Nagamma and his family members were poor and could not feed the baby.

Single mother Rani approached Nagamma and told her that she wanted the baby and offered Rs 16,000 for the infant.

On April 15, Nagamma, along with the baby, got discharged from the hospital and on the same day, she handed over the infant to Rani, taking Rs 16,000 from her.

Later, Rani and her relatives took the infant to Dolasnagar in Mangalagiri mandal, Guntur district.

Recently, when Anganwadi workers went to Nagamma to supply ration they found the baby missing and enquired her. Meanwhile, Anganwadi workers in Mangalagiri area caught wind of the baby from the locals.

Based on the information from Anganwadi workers, officials of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the police swung into action and found that Nagamma sold the baby to Rani.

Soon, the officials shifted the baby boy to the government hospital for medical observation. The police arrested Nagamma and registered a case against Rani