Mother auctions baby for Rs 4000

Coimbatore (PTI): A baby girl was auctioned by her mother hours after her birth for Rs 4,000 in a village in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district, an NGO has claimed.

The woman, a resident of Kunnathur village, reportedly sold her second-born as she could not afford to raise the baby, convener of Campaign against Child Trafficking C. Nambi said here.

The incident, Nambi said, was confirmed by the fact-finding team of the NGO which recently visited the village following reports of the auction. He demanded that the government take custody of the child.

The woman, who had also sold her first child, had offered the newborn for Rs 5,000 in an auction held at the village a fortnight ago, Nambi said.

The baby was finally bought for Rs 4,000 by a person who believed that “bringing home a girl child born on a Friday was auspicious”.

According to findings of the team, a local cobbler had “booked” the child but could not pay for the expenses of the woman when she was pregnant. V. P. Sarathi, chairperson, Coimbatore Human Rights Forum, said the police had failed to act even though the auction was taking place within 200 metres of Kunnathur police station. “The police have always tried to cover up the incident and claimed there was no written complaint to book a case,” Sarathi added.

He said the team had also met the Erode district collector, who had assured that action would be taken after a probe.

Saved from bar, raped in shelter

Mumbai (PTI): Police are on the lookout for a security guard of the government rehabilitation centre in suburban Trombay for allegedly raping a minor.

The girl was brought to the rehabilitation centre after being rescued by the police, eight months ago, from a dancing bar in Nagpada in central Mumbai. She had been illegally confined to the dancing bar along with 12 girls when the place was raided, police sources said.

The rescue provided little relief as the girl was sexually abused at the rehabilitation centre by the security guard.

Deepak Ganpat Mahagade went missing after the centre authorities found that the girl was pregnant. On being questioned, she revealed that Mahagade had raped her, the police said. Trombay police have booked a case of rape against Mahagade.

School in spot over graveyard

Rajgarh (madhya pradesh) (PTI): Children of Mohanpura village near here have refused to attend classes in a newly-constructed primary school.

The cause for their reluctance is the graveyard on which the school building stands, said Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission co-ordinator A.K. Verma. An appeal has been made to the district administration to shift the building, which has cost Rs 1.5 lakh.

Contractor killed

Allahabad (PTI): A local contractor was killed when motorcycle-borne assailants hurled a crude bomb at him in the Bamrauli market area of the city, police said. Uma Shankar Sahu was standing outside his office on Tuesday when the bomb hit him. Personal enmity is suspected to be the motive behind the attack.

JKLF leader quits

Srinagar (PTI): Senior vice-president of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Javid Ahmad Mir resigned on Wednesday from his post and quit the separatist organisation altogether. The former commander-in-chief of JKLF said he was stepping down on health grounds.

Health unit fraud

Hoshiarpur (PTI): A fraud case involving embezzlement of lakhs of rupees in the health department of Hoshiarpur was detected by the additional director, internal audit (revenue), Punjab, during an annual audit. It was discovered that a primary health centre had withdrawn double salaries for its officials between 2002-03.

Macabre rape

New Delhi (PTI): A 30-year-old woman has lodged a police complaint alleging that she was kept in confinement and repeatedly raped by her father-in-law and brother-in-law in their east Delhi residence. The woman alleged that her father-in-law, a BSNL officer, and brother-in-law raped her several times and that she was not allowed to speak to anyone, sources said. She reportedly said that she had complained to her husband but to no avail. Her husband and brother-in-law have been arrested, the sources said.

Varuna Japams, special invocations to the rain god, and vedic hymns were recited at Sri Ranganathasamy temple near Srirangam and 67 Vaishnavite temples at Tiruchirapalli on Wednesday, on the instruction of the Tamil Nadu government.