A 22-year-old pregnant woman who travelled nearly 3,000 km from Assam in search of a safe place to give birth instead found herself trapped in what police suspect is a newborn baby trafficking racket operating from central Kerala.
KOTTAYAM (KERALA) — A 22-year-old pregnant woman who travelled nearly 3,000 km from Assam in search of a safe place to give birth instead found herself trapped in what police suspect is a newborn baby trafficking racket operating from central Kerala.
Her escape and complaint have now led to the arrest of two men and opened an investigation into an alleged network that police believe lured vulnerable pregnant women from other states with promises of free accommodation and medical care before attempting to sell their babies after birth.
The Erattupetta Police arrested Muppili Raja (27), a native of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and K S Arjun (21) of Idukki district.
Both were taken into custody from a house at Theekkoy near Pala where the woman had earlier been staying. They were produced before a local court and remanded in judicial custody.
Police have also registered a case against a woman identified as Harshitha, while the investigation is continuing to trace others suspected to be part of the alleged racket.
According to the woman's complaint, she fled her home in Assam after facing sustained pressure from her husband to terminate her pregnancy, police said.
Already the mother of a one-and-a-half-year-old girl, she said her husband and family opposed her second pregnancy, forcing her to leave home in the hope of finding a place where she could safely continue the pregnancy and raise her child.
While in Delhi, she came across an Instagram account, which she believed belonged to a voluntary organisation. The account allegedly offered free accommodation and delivery expenses for pregnant women. Trusting the promise, she travelled to Kerala and reached Kottayam on July 16.
Police said Arjun, a hotel management student in Bengaluru, and Harshitha received the woman and took her to an isolated house surrounded by a rubber plantation at Theekkoy in this district.
Police said the property was being used as a guest house by Anitha, a private hospital nurse from Coimbatore, and her husband Raja, also known as Karthik.
According to the complaint, the woman realised something was wrong when she was allegedly told that her newborn baby would have to be handed over for Rs 3 lakh after delivery.
It was then, police said, that she understood she had been trapped by a group allegedly involved in selling newborn babies.
Her escape came with the help of an anganwadi teacher she met by chance. With the teacher's assistance, she reached the Erattupetta Police Station and narrated her ordeal.
She was later shifted to Santhwanam, a government-run shelter home in Gandhi Nagar near Kottayam town, where she is currently under care.
Police said preliminary investigation indicates that the accused may have links to a wider network involved in procuring newborn babies.
Investigators are examining the role of the Instagram account through which the woman was allegedly contacted, the financial transactions involved and whether other pregnant women were similarly targeted.
Officials are also trying to identify others who may have been part of the operation and determine whether the network has been active in other states.