Gay Man Arrested for Illegally Buying 19-Month-Old Child; Parents Also Detained
Gay Man Arrested for Illegally Buying 19-Month-Old Child; Parents Also Detained
Mumbai: The child who was saved from the trafficking situation is currently under the care and protection of St. Cafferine Child Shelter in Andheri.
28th May 2024
The DN Nagar police have apprehended six individuals, including the guardians of a one-year-seven-months-old infant, as part of an investigation into a child trafficking operation. The implicated parents, facing financial hardship, allegedly facilitated the sale of their child through three intermediaries to a 43-year-old affluent individual.
Notably, the buyer, identified as homosexual, sought to adopt a child but opted against the formal adoption procedures citing their complexity.
The child who was saved from the trafficking situation is currently under the care and protection of St. Cafferine Child Shelter in Andheri.
Mohammed Azad Shaikh, also known as Badshah, from Malwani, along with his wife Nazmeen, have been accused of selling their child to a Thane-based individual who runs an event management business and is homosexual, for a sum of Rs 4.65 lakh.
“This individual had told his colleague Sayeba Ansari, a transgender, that he wanted a child. Sayeba told another accused, Rabiya Parveen Ansari, who then asked her relative, Sakina Banu Shaikh for the same. Sakina, who lives in Bandshah-Nazameen’s neighbourhood, conveyed this to the couple. The deal was done and after medical tests of the kid, his parents sold him to Thane individual,” said inspector Wahid Pathan from DN Nagar police station to The Indian Express.
The couple received a portion of the payment in cash and the remainder through online transactions. An officer stated, “The Thane-based individual, who has only his 70-year-old mother in his family, was seeking to adopt a child.”
Pathan explained that Badshah’s sister became concerned when she couldn’t locate the child. She accompanied the child’s parents to the Malvani police station. However, fearing consequences, the parents fabricated a story, alleging that their child had been abducted by an individual who lured children under the pretext of shooting an advertisement film.
During the investigation into the alleged kidnapping, the police discovered inconsistencies in the couple’s account. Subsequently, under persistent questioning by the authorities, they confessed to selling their child.
Badshah, the main accused, has a history of prior criminal charges. Authorities are investigating whether the accused couple had sold their other children previously.
All six individuals, including the businessman from Thane, have been apprehended under sections 370 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, according to Senior Inspector Rajendra Machidar of the DN Nagar police station.
They were brought before the court on Monday and have been remanded in police custody until 30th May, as stated by Inspector Pathan.
