Facebook baby sale: NRHC seeks report from child ministry

The National Human Rights Commission on Monday sought reports from the Union women and child ministry and police commissioners of Ludhiana and Delhi in connection with reports of a baby being sold thrice through a deal struck on Facebook.

The commission, which took suo motu action on the basis of media reports, asked the secretary of the WCD ministry and the police commissioners to submit their reports within four weeks, a statement said.

The baby born of April 3 in Ludhiana was sold three times in 10 days, first by his maternal grandfather and the last by an unidentified person to a Delhi businessman through a deal struck on social networking site Facebook before he was rescued.

"The baby was abducted allegedly by his maternal father on April 10 and sold for Rs 45,000 with the help of some staff at the nursing home. The baby was further sold to a hospital lab assistant for Rs 3 lakh and finally to the Delhi businessman for Rs 8 lakh," the statement said quoting reports.

The commission has observed that the contents of the press reports, if true, raise a serious violation of human rights of the baby.

Four persons, including the baby’s maternal grandfather Feroze Khan, his accomplice Irfan, nurse Sunita and another employee of a private nursing home in Ludhiana, have been arrested in connection with this case.