Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Tuesday ordered a probe into the alleged baby selling racket in the state after one of the shelter homes of Saint Teresa’s charitable trust was found at the centre of the alleged racket of selling babies that are born to unmarried women.
The CM called a high-level meeting to discuss the matter and directed the Social Welfare Department and Commission for Protection of Child Rights to start a detailed investigation into the case and submit reports within fifteen days.
Last week, Ranchi Police arrested a sister and staff of Nirmal Hriday, a Missionaries of Charities-run shelter home, for selling a baby to a couple in Uttar Pradesh for Rs 1.20 lakh. Sister Koncilia has revealed during interrogation that she was involved in four cases of selling babies.
The arrests opened up the Pandora’s Box as the state secretariat received information about 280 dubious cases of babies born to women at the shelter home, which has shocked the administrative machinery, forcing the CM to widen the ambit of the investigation.
According to reports, the Missionaries of Charity has failed to provide the birth records of 280 women who gave birth. The charitable trust has the records of only 170 women while it had admitted over 450 unmarried pregnant women at its shelter homes.
CM Raghubar Das has also ordered to establish branches of Child Welfare Committee in every district within a fortnight.
During the meeting it emerged that over 450 unmarried pregnant women sought help at the Missionaries of Charity-run shelter homes in Jharkhand. The shelter homes had asked these women to sign an affidavit that they would never claim rights on their child in the future.
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