Bangalore, December 28: In a startling incident that sparked speculations of a child trafficking racket in the City, the owner of a private nursing home at Neelasandra was caught red-handed while selling an infant on Thursday.
During a preliminary probe by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), the accused Parvin, a gynaecologist, confessed to selling at least four newborns since 2004. The arrest comes days after a baby went missing from Vani Vilas Hospital in the City.
Besides the 48-year-old doctor, who is also the owner of Getwell Hospital, the Ashoknagar police have arrested her son Harsha, 24, who acted as an intermediary in the deal. The police have rescued the baby boy and referred him to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. He is said to be in good health. However, neither the baby nor his parents have been identified, the police said.
CWC sources told Deccan Herald that the doctor denied being part of a larger racket, but admitted that the infant was the fifth baby she had tried to sell. She also claimed that the baby’s mother had fled the nursing home after giving birth 20 days ago. Parvin told the CWC that she had sold only those babies who were abandoned by their mothers after giving birth at the nursing home.
Geeta Kulkarni, senior inspector with the Basaveshwara Nagar police station, is investigating the case. High drama preceded the doctor’s arrest. Acting on a tip-off that newborn babies were being sold for adoption at the Getwell Hospital, a TV channel had attempted a sting operation on Parvin some months ago. However, the doctor had denied any such activity in the hospital when a woman approached her to “buy” a baby for adoption. The woman left behind her visiting card for Parvin to contact her, in case she came across any orphaned baby. A week ago, Parvin called the woman.
Sources said the doctor had initially quoted Rs 3 lakh for the baby, but agreed to sell the baby for Rs 85,000 after negotiations. This was when the CWC and the City police entered the scene. The woman had told Parvin that she needed the baby for a friend.
An elaborate trap was laid by Joint Commissioner (crime-west) Pranab Mohanty to catch the doctor red-handed. Roopa Hadagali, a sub-inspector with the Upparpet police station headed the operation. She went to the hospital posing as the woman’s friend.
“I and one of my colleagues posed as a couple willing to adopt a child and trapped the doctor on Thursday afternoon. We paid Rs 20,000 as agreed before as advance and the doctor handed over the baby to us,” she said. Harsha, the doctor’s son, acted as an intermediary. A police team, waiting outside, barged into the nursing home immediately after the sub-inspector came out with the baby.
The doctor and her son were arrested and the money recovered. Police sources said Parvin had started the hospital in 2003. She was married to a retired Army officer, Colonel Prakash.
The couple have two children, a daughter who is pursuing medical studies at Vaidehi Hospital, Whitefield, and Harsha, a BE in computer science, is preparing for the civil services examination.
The Ashoknagar police have registered a case against the mother-son duo under Section 372 of the IPC, for trafficking minors. The accused, if convicted, can be imprisonment for a maximum of 10 years.
Accused doctor had ‘sold’ four babies since 2004
Bangalore, December 28: Dr Parvin of the Get Well Hospital, who was caught red-hand on Thursday while selling off a new born baby for adoption, is said to have been involved in selling of babies since 2004.
Sister Jacintha Lobo, member, Child Welfare Committee, Karnataka, who questioned the accused told Deccan Herald that Dr Parvin was not repentant of what she had done and, had admitted that this was not the first baby that she had sold. In her statement, she has confessed that she was involved in such an act since 2004 and had sold at least five babies for adoptions, including the latest one.
Dr Parvin has reportedly said that she had never stolen babies nor forced any parents to give up their babies, but used to give away only those babies abandoned by their mothers after the delivery at her hospital.
She has reportedly said that in 2004, an unwed girl gave birth to a baby girl at her hospital and, fled the hospital leaving the baby. As an issueless Hasheem Bhai, a biriyani vendor near her hospital, wanted to adopt a child, Dr Parvin gave the baby to him and took nominal money from him. This was the first baby the accused had sold off.
She is said to have sold three more babies in 2007, 2008 and 2010 for an amount the adopters paid. She saw nothing wrong in this as she felt that she was helping childless couples in getting a kid and, the abandoned babies a better life.
Speaking about the Thursday’s case, Dr Parvin told Jacintha Lobo that a girl in her twenties turned up at her hospital 20 days ago and gave birth to the baby boy. She said that it was a normal delivery and, the girl had left the hospital a few hours after the delivery. However, she failed to give “credible” details about the identity of the girl.
Child at IGICH
Doctors at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, where the rescued baby has been admitted, said the the baby was doing well, although it was under-weight.
“The baby is just 1.75 kgs. We have collected blood samples for conducting certains tests and the results are expected on Friday. Based on the reports, if there is any problem, appropriate treatment will be given,” a doctor said.
The city police also brought the parents of the new born baby boy, who was stolen from Vani Vilas Hospital a week ago, to check whether it was their baby. However, they confirmed that it was not their child.
Meanwhile, Meena Jain, Chairperson, CWC met the Police Commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji and sought a detailed inquiry into the case. “This menace has been rampant across the country and, the Bangalore police have done a good work in busting the racket. We will peruse the case and take it to its logical end. The commissioner has assured of a thorough probe,” she said.
