Mother among 5 held on charge of selling children in Miraj

Kolhapur: A woman was caught while attempting to sell her newborn daughter in Miraj on Sunday, about one-and-a-half years after she had allegedly sold her two sons for Rs 20,000 each, the police said.The Miraj police have arrested five people, including the woman, in the case. The newborn girl and the two boys the woman had sold earlier were rescued by the police and handed over to an orphanage."The woman confessed that she had sold her two sons for Rs 20,000 each. A case has been registered under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, against the woman, two agents and the men of the families that ‘bought' the boys," said inspector Kiran Chougle, of the Miraj city police station.Among those arrested is a woman employee of the health department of the Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation who acted as an agent.According to the investigation, the woman had sold one of her sons to a family from Madhav Nagar in Sangli, and the other to a family from Karnataka. Both the boys were rescued.The complaint was registered by the district child welfare department after the authorities learnt about the illegal adoption. Rohini Waghmare, the district child welfare officer, registered the complaint with the Miraj city police station.The police said the woman took the help of middlemen to find families that wanted children.According to the police, the woman, a resident of Subhash Nagar, was an orphan and got married to a ragpicker who spent his earnings on liquor."She delivered two boys and a girl in past three years. She came in touch with a woman employee of the labour and delivery department of the municipal corporation. A fake adoption certificate was made to sell one of her sons to a family from Madhav Nagar," said Chougle.