Cops befuddled by case of minor girl sold as surrogate

Panaji: Investigation into the case of a minor girl from Vasco who was sold to be a surrogate mother, is proving to be one tough task for the Panaji women's police station. In a new twist, the survivor went missing from her residence on Wednesday. Vasco police, who began a search following a missing person's complaint by her father, found her to be with a friend later the same day.

Based on a complaint by an NGO, Satyavan Naik, Tasleem Haji, and a couple, Shoaib Afridi and Salath Parveen, were arrested last Saturday for abusing the Karnataka native and selling her as a surrogate mother. The fifth accused, Motiram Gaonkar, was arrested later.

"In 2016, the girl ran away from home. She later told Vasco police that she didn't want to stay with her family. An NGO then sent her to reside with her maternal grandmother. She stayed there for a few days, but soon left and began staying with Gaonkar, who raped her. Later, Gaonkar and Haji made her enter into a contract with Afridi and Parveen," a police official said.

The survivor's Aadhaar card was forged to show her to be a major, as she was intended to be a surrogate for the couple, police sources said, adding that she was promised Rs 5 lakh after the birth of the child. Police have now established that the girl is only 15 years old.

Afridi then began taking her to a hospital in Chicalim for intrauterine insemination (IUI). Police inquiries with hospital staff have established that he posed as the girl's husband.

The survivor stayed with the couple for 3.5 months between April and July, when she underwent two rounds of treatment to conceive. However, both attempts failed. Police said Afridi also raped the girl during this period and stated that his wife, Parveen, was aware of it.

After it was found that she could not concieve, the girl was sent back home, where she stayed for a while before she left again. Her family subsequently found her at the Chicalim junction, following which she told her father that Afridi and Gaonkar had raped her.

She also accused Naik, whom she claimed to have met through Facebook.

Naik and Afridi are presently out on bail, while two others, Vandana Govekar and Shyam Kanoji, have been arrested for their involvement in the crime.