3-Month-Old Baby Girl Gets Sold 7 Times In Two Months; 11 Including Father Arrested

The police in India have busted a child trafficking ring that sells newborn babies to childless couples while rescuing a 3-month-old baby girl who was sold seven times in two months, according to reports.

The 3-month-old child from Guntur, a city in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh, was rescued Wednesday from Eluru, a city around 60 miles from her hometown, after being resold several times, the police said. The police have arrested 11 suspects including the infant's father, as reported by The Times of India.

The investigation began after the child’s mother and grandmother complained to the police that Medabalimi Manoj, the child’s father, gave up the newborn for money.

Manoj was reportedly upset when his wife gave birth to a third daughter and decided to sell the newborn. Although Manoj's wife initially agreed to his decision, she later opposed the idea of selling her daughter.

But, by then, Manoj had made several inquiries and eventually entered into a deal with a human trafficker, Meghavat Gayatri, from the neighboring state of Telangana for INR 70,000 [around $920]. Gayatri then sold the child within a few days to the next person, and the chain continued until the infant was rescued by the police.

"We rescued the infant and handed her over safely to the parents. The main accused in the case is her father, who had sold the baby. The baby was sold to many people subsequently and the accused do not have any criminal backgrounds. Lastly, she was sold for Rs 2,50,000 [$3300] before police caught the culprits," NDTV reported.

The investigators found out that the gang sold babies to childless couples who were willing to adopt a baby after tracing them through fertility clinics in the area. "They have contacts with IVF centers at various places from where they collect details of couples who visit those centers," senior investigating officer Ankamma Rao said.

The gang maintained a network and sold the babies to others in the same group when they could not find buyers at a particular time.

Meanwhile, the police said they are investigating the possibility of other victims who were trafficked by the group.