Baby sold for Rs 1.20 lakh: Jharkhand MoC nun, staff confess in video

Mumbai: Three out of four babies allegedly sold by the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity in Ranchi have been found, the Jharkhand police told news agency ANI on Saturday.

“3 out of 4 children have been recovered. Both the nuns have been taken into custody. Further investigation is underway,” Ashish Gupta, SSP Ranchi said.

A video shows the two arrested nuns confessing to their role in the child selling racket.

Sister Koncilia confessed that three babies were sold while the fourth infant was given away for adoption for free.

The two nuns and a female staffer of Nirmal Hriday shelter home were arrested last week on charges of selling newborn babies.

Here is the transcript of the confessions made by the nuns and the staffer. The video was accessed by Republic TV:

Sister Koncilia: “Karishma (baby's mother') came to our home (Missionaries of charity) on March 19, 2018. She came to me and was crying. She said 'nobody will help my child.”.

“I told Anima (the Missionary staffer) that Karishma would get money. So, Anima arranged everything. I don't know where the deal was done. Only some days ago, I got to know that the baby was given to a couple. I didn't know about Rs 1 lakh 20 thousand. I was only told about Rs 90,000.”

Anima: On being asked how many children were sold by her, Anima said she has “sold 3 newborns” through the guard. One of them was sold to a UP couple for “Rs 1 lakh 20 thousand”.

Second accused nun: “Karishma delivered a child in Sadar hospital on May 1. She came to our home two days after being discharged from the hospital. They were with us till May 22 and later she signed a statement that she is handing over the child to missionaries. The child was supposed to be sent to CWC with our staff. Instead, the baby was sold to a couple. Till last Saturday, we were unaware that our staff didn't go to CWC.”

“I forced the staff to disclose where the child was sold. Then, Anima told me that she and the nun found a family and gave away the child for Rs 1 lakh. I asked what did you do with the money? She said 'I gave Rs 10,000 to the guard and Rs 90,000 to the sister. After that, I don't know what happened with the money.'

Earlier, the Roman Catholic Church came out in support of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. A senior church official accused the police of hounding the nuns who have been working in the state since 1959. He further said that the accused nun is innocent.