Auto driver in Ennore sells 4-day-old son for Rs 2 Lakh, held
The accused struck a deal with a mediator when his wife was 7 months pregnant
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CHENNAI: Poverty-stricken auto-rickshaw driver allegedly sold his newborn boy to a couple from Ennore for Rs 2 lakh as he could not earn enough for his two other children, aged six and two years.
The police identified the accused as Sathya Das, a resident of Malligaipoo Colony in Vyasarpadi. The police arrested him for selling his son to the couple, and the search is on for the missing newborn and the couple, who bought the four days old.
The police said that auto driver, Sathya Das, who was under the influence of alcohol, lifted the boy sleeping beside his wife admitted at the RSRM Govt Maternity Hospital and handed the baby over to the couple on Aug 10.
After his wife, Shyamala, came to know that her newborn boy was missing, she asked her husband. Though he initially claimed innocence, he later confessed to her that he had sold the child, the police said. Following this, Shyamala filed a complaint with the police on Wednesday.
Based on her complaint, the Vyasarpadi police registered a case and arrested her husband. Police said that Shyamala delivered the baby on Aug 6.
Sathya Das told police that he took the four-day-old baby boy as per the mediator’s instructions and walked towards a narrow lane next to the hospital where he gave the child to the mediator.
He told police that the mediator had informed him that the couple – Ganesh and Saranya – were in dire need of a child and struck a deal of Rs 2 lakh when his wife was 7 months pregnant and he had received Rs 25,000 in various installments. He also said the mediator gave him the remaining money as per the deal after he handed over his baby. The police registered a case and arrested him. Hunt on for the absconding couple and the mediator.