Balrampur, (Samajweekly) Two doctors of a private hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district have been arrested over allegations of selling a Hindu couple’s newborn baby to the family of a Muslim corporator.
They told the parents that the child was still born, senior police officials said on Thursday.
The infant was recovered on Monday, nearly a month later, of being sold to the corporator’s family and reunited with the real mother, who had lodged an FIR with Panchpedwa police station on Sunday.
The FIR followed the realisation that the doctors’ claims were false, and after she came to know about the sale of the child through various sources.
Tulsipur Circle Officer (CO), Raghvendra Singh, said the FIR was initially lodged against the two accused Akram Jamal, the operator of Mission Hospital, in Judikuiya locality, under the Panchpedwa police station limits; and his colleague, Hafiz-ur-Rehman of Badani, Siddartha Nagar; under section 311 of the IPC (cheating through transportation of life (theft of a child)).
He said the section attracts imprisonment for life and liable for fine.
The CO said that the police will add the corporator’s name as the co-accused and further IPC sections and medical negligence will be added in the FIR during investigation.
Inspector of Panchpedwa police station, Avadhesh Raj Singh, said that the complainant was identified as Pushpa Devi, wife of Jai Jai Ram, resident of Jhauwa village, near Gaura crossing in Balarampur.
“The woman said Hafiz-ur-Rehman performed the Caesarean Section on her on October 29. After the operation, she remained in hospital for around a week during which she was informed that she gave birth to a still born child. But later she came to know that the two doctors had sold her child,” he stated.
The inspector said the police raided a house in Badani, Siddartha Nagar, which belongs to Nisar Ahmad who is a corporator and recovered the child from his house on the revelation made by the accused doctors.
He said that the corporator had escaped before the arrival of the police and is said to have fled to Nepal.
He said efforts are on to arrest him.
The CO further said that so far, investigations revealed that Hafiz-ur-Rehman was the key operator in the case and was known to the corporator as he lives near the latter’s house in Badani, Siddartha Nagar.
He said the police are further verifying whether the two accused had sold any other child in the past.
Besides, the Balrampur chief medical officer has been asked to send a report on the entire incident and further action of sealing the hospital would also be done if its registration was not found proper.
