Mumbai bar girl goes to Pune to sell month-old son for higher profit

The month-old child was fathered by the dancer's former lover

Pune: The police have caught a 23-year-old bar dancer who went from Mumbai to Pune in search of the highest bidder for her month-old son. Three agents were arrested for arranging the illegal sale and adoption of the baby for Rs 3.35 lakh.

The mother of the child is Lalita Somnath Patil (23), a bar dancer from Dombivli (East). Her accomplices are Asha Nana Ahere (27) from Ulashnagar in Thane, Deepti Sanjay Kharat (30) from Sinhagad Road, Pune and Keshav Shankar Zende (42) from Mohammadwadi, Pune.

A case has been registered with Farashkhana police station, which falls under the jurisdiction of Pune city police. PI Rekha Salunke said, "We had received a tip-off about some women coming to Pune to sell a child. Accordingly, we laid a trap at Kasba Peth's birth registry on Wednesday. We zeroed in Latika, who had the baby in her arms. She admitted that she was trying to procure a fraudulent birth certificate for the child to start the illegal adoption process."

Latika told the police that the infant was born out of wedlock, fathered by a former lover. She has two other children from her ex-husband, and is currently in a relationship with someone else, which is why she did not want the love child. API Mahendra Jadhav, who is investigating the case, said, "Latika said that she is a bar dancer in Mumbai and she and her friend Asha came to Pune thinking they would get more money for the baby here. The agent, Keshav, runs a boys' hostel in Saswad, and he told her she would get '3.35 lakh for the child."

The cop added, "It appears to be a racket for selling babies to childless couples who are looking for a way to bypass the Central Adoption Resource Authority. In past, the gang had committed a similar offence. We appeal to citizens to approach us if they come across such a racket."