Karnataka: Child traffickers got birth certificates done in adopted parents' name!

Mysuru: The gang involved in kidnapping and selling children to childless couples was getting the birth certificates done directly in the name of couples who were buying these children, mentioning them as the biological parents. With this, gang members got visas and passports done easily for the children, said Mysuru Superintendent of Police Ravi D. Chennannanavar.

He said, “The authorities of Naseema Hospital Usha and C.J. Francis, OT nurse Renuka and fake doctor Anusha alias Srimathi, are the prime accused. Among the 17 children rescued from the gang, at least 15 were born in either Arvind or Naseema Nursing Homes. The accused had got the birth certificates done directly in the name of the buying couples, instead of their biological parents. Shireen, a software Engineer in the USA, who is the sister of accused Usha, said that is how they got visas and passports done, he said.

“The parents, who had gone for delivery in the two hospitals, were not told whether the children were dead. In a few cases, the hospitals had convinced unwed mothers, who had come for abortions, to wait for the delivery and taken the child. In rest of the cases, we are still not sure whether the parents themselves sold the children, as no missing complaints have been filed. The accused were also looking for isolated and abandoned children on the streets. In one case, the accused had approached a woman, Parvathi from Nanjangud, to sell her nine-month-old baby boy, but she refused. The accused later kidnapped the child and sold it to a couple in Mysuru. Based on Parvathi’s complaint, the police investigated the case, rescued her child and arrested the gang,” he said.  

Last year, while 45 children, including 17 girls – under the age of 18, went missing in Mysuru district (Rural), only 37 could be traced. This year so far, 26 children, including 10 girls, have gone missing in Mysuru district (Rural) and only 18 have been traced.

In Mysuru city last year, 126 children, including 43 girls, went missing, but only 105 could be traced. This year so far, 111 children, including 58 girls, have gone missing, but only 85 have been traced.

Of the 16 children rescued from the gang, nine were sent back to their families, while the search is on for the parents of the other children. The police are also verifying whether they are in the list of missing children from the city and district.  

Four of the rescued children have been put up at the Bapuji Children’s Home, while six others are at Janapada Seva Trust of Melkote, and Vikasana Institution in Mandya. A high-level committee, formed by the Department of Women and Child Development and District Welfare Committee, is deciding on the custody of the children. The couples who had adopted the children have appealed before Mysuru Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep to legalise the adoptions and return the children to them.