Click to play videoNew Delhi: It’s a shocking tale that exposes the dark underbelly of Capital’s adoption market.
A CNN-IBN Special Investigation reveals how a placement agency located in Shakoorpur area of West Delhi forces minor girls into conceiving and later sells the babies for big money.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had information that the agency brought girls below 18 years of age from Jharkhand and West Bengal and made them work as domestic helps in Delhi.
But that's only half the story.
The minor girls were forced to conceive and their babies were sold off through agents.
Following a tip-off, two decoys of CNN-IBN Special Investigation team followed up on the case and went to the placement agency - Adivasi Seva Samiti Service - posing as a couple wanting to buy an infant.
The agency is run by one Vinod and his wife Preeti. CNN-IBN SIT spoke with Preeti first. Here’s an excerpt from the conversation
CNN-IBN: How much do you take per baby?
Preeti: We sold the last baby for Rs 10000
While trying to fix a price for a baby, with Preeti, the team met Sukhmui, a young girl who had delivered a baby 20 days ago. Basanti, the midwife who helped deliver the baby, was also present. She and Preeti had differing takes on Sukhmui’s age.
Here’s an excerpt of a conversation with them, shot on a hidden cam.
Basanti: She must be 16-17 years old
Preeti: No, i think she's older.
Basanti: I've delivered her baby. I know she's a minor
The girl herself was unclear about when exactly she conceived the child. “It happened in my village,” is all that she recalls.
Basanti says she was suspicious about Vinod and Preeti for a long time. “They have been involved in getting young girls pregnant, making them give birth to children. Whoever they give the baby to, they take a lot of money from them,” she said.
The midwife also gave the team the whereabouts of the family who had bought the baby from the agency.
The team the contacted Delhi police who, acting on leads, conducted a raid in Om Vihar and Uttam Nagar areas from where they discovered the 20-day-old baby who had allegedly been sold off.
The family claimed that they had no clue as to where the baby had come from. According to them, they collected the baby from the chamber of a lawyer in Tis Hazari Court.
“I got the baby from Kavita Madam at Tis Hazari court. Before that, they had told me that the baby was born in Rani Bagh. Nothing else,” said Beena, the woman who adopted the baby.
After recovering the baby, the raid party reached the placement agency and nabbed Preeti and her agents from her office.
Sukhmui was also picked up for questioning.
The only missing link to the entire racket was the lawyer from Tis Hazari who had allegedly taken the baby from the agency and handed it over to the final customers.
Not surprisingly, she denied all charges.
The racket is now being investigated by the Delhi police.
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