Thane Crime: Couple, agent caught selling 5-month-old baby for Rs 90,000

The couple and the kids lived in Shahad. Representation pic

The Thane police have arrested a couple for attempting to sell their five-month-old boy for Rs 90,000. Police said the father, an auto driver, was struggling to feed his six children as he wasn't earning enough due to the pandemic. A woman, who was helping them, was also arrested and a probe is underway into illegal adoptions she facilitated in the past.

Woman was trying to sell the boy for Rs 1.7 lakh. Representation pic

Pallavi and Sainath Bhoir, residents of Shahad, had five children and the wife gave birth to her sixth child this year. "The couple has six children and they were having a tough time financially. So they decided to sell their newborn," said Senior Inspector N Bankar.

The 36-year-old woman, Mansi Jadhav, who had previously worked with an NGO that helps in adoption, was also arrested along with the couple on Saturday. An officer said Sainath had come in contact with Jadhav, a Belapur resident, during his visits to Rukmini Bai Hospital in Kalyan.

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The Thane Crime Branch officers had laid a trap in Kalyan after receiving a tip-off about the sale of the child. "Our informer told us that Jadhav was bringing the child to Kalyan court to hand him over to a customer after a payment of Rs 1.7 lakh," the officer added. Jadhav had promised R90,000 to the couple and had planned to keep the rest.

Police sent a civilian as the customer and another person as their eyewitness. The civilian reached the court around 11.30 am on Saturday and met with Jadhav. They then walked to Deepak Hotel, where Jadhav gave the baby to the eyewitness and as she was receiving the payment, police came and took her into custody.

Jadhav then told the police about the child's parents, who were sitting in an auto nearby. Police arrested the trio, who are in their custody till today, May 25.

The child has been sent to a children's home after being presented before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The couple's other children are at their home, in the care of the eldest child who is above 18 years of age.

Police are also investigating Jadhav's statement that she had done such illegal adoptions in the past as well.