HYDERABAD: A four-month-old baby boy is caught in a fight between his biological parents and a childless couple, who ostensibly bought the infant for Rs 1.5 lakh. At the centre of the controversy that is brewing in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district is a staff nurse and an associate of a primary health centre. Police are looking at their role in the baby selling episode.
District authorities have also launched an investigation into the claims of the biological parents and also the role of the PHC in Mahadevpur village.
The biological parents, who belong to a nomadic group in Mahadevpur, make a living by selling onions. In June this year, the woman gave birth to a baby boy. Since he was their fourth child, the couple reportedly told the staff at the hospital that they were not interested in keeping the baby with them.
A fortnight later, they were approached and asked if they would like to give away their child for a childless couple staying in Vallemkunta village of Mahamutharam mandal. The biological parents were given Rs 10,000 and the baby was taken away.
The biological parents later changed their mind, went to Vallemkunta and asked that their child be given back to them.
The couple, who have been childless for 14 years, however, refused. The biological parents were willing to give Rs 10,000 to them to take back their child.
However, the couple reportedly demanded that Rs 1.5 lakh be paid to them, which they claimed to have given to the hospital staff. The biological parents were in for a shock. They had no clue that the two PHC staffers had pocketed over Rs 1 lakh by selling their child to the Vallemkunta couple.
They approached police though they have not filed a formal complaint yet. “They want their baby boy back and it is rightful for them to ask. We have asked the couple in Vallemkunta to hand over the baby to them,” a police official told STOI on Saturday. “If a formal complaint is made against the hospital staff, we will register a case and investigate it,” he said.
District medical and health officer Sudhar Singh told STOI that a thorough investigation would be conducted. “We will initiate a departmental action against the erring hospital staff,” he said.