The toddler was discovered alone on National Highway 552 in Sheopur's Soinkalan area (AI IMAGE/PEXELS)
Madhya Pradesh Crime: A businessman from Guna and his wife got arrested after they left their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter alone on a highway in Sheopur. They said the child brought “bad luck” to their family and their business. But that’s not the whole story. Police started digging and quickly realised there’s likely a child trafficking ring behind how the girl ended up in their care.
The toddler was found all by herself on National Highway-552 in Sheopur’s Soinkalan area on April 18, thanks to a Dial-112 tip. Officers rushed to the scene and contacted the Child Welfare Committee, which stepped in to look after the girl after a medical check.
An FIR was lodged for leaving a minor in dangerous circumstances. Police used CCTV, forensic evidence and eyewitnesses’ testimonies to track down the vehicle used to abandon the child. This led police to Bhopal, where the couple was located and questioned.
The couple initially denied having adopted the child. But when questioned, they confessed to having bought the child for Rs 1 lakh from an illegal network operating in Indore.
The police have invoked further charges under the trafficking and Juvenile Justice Act. The couple has been handed over to the police for questioning while efforts are made to trace the network.
Authorities suspect the network receives children from poor families and sells them as adopted children. Police have arrested a number of people connected to the racket, and are trying to locate the child’s parents.
In a further twist to the case, a Bhopal woman, who said she was the child’s nanny, told police the girl had been beaten. She claimed she had been paid Rs 20,000 a month to take care of the child but could not continue as she was not paid.
She said the couple did not disclose how they got the child. Police are still working to find others involved in the racket and make sure the child is safe in a state-run institution.
Sadly, this isn’t an isolated case. Recently, a nurse in Noida got caught trying to sell a newborn for Rs 2.6 lakh. These kinds of stories keep popping up across India, showing how illegal adoptions and child sales still happen far too often. Police are trying to shut down these networks, and their investigations keep revealing how traffickers exploit vulnerable families. With each incident, there’s a bigger push to protect children and keep them safe from harm.
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