Two Indian women arrested for trying to sell newborn for ₹450,000

• Police arrest Julia Fernandez and Shabana Shaikh after they hand newborn baby to police.
• Baby was born to another couple in Delhi before she was handed over to accused. 
• Both women were arrested under charges of human trafficking.

Two women were arrested in India on Sunday for trying to sell a 15-day-old baby girl to another couple.

Police said a Pune-based couple filed for an adoption application months earlier. They later received a message that a woman wanted to sell a newborn baby for ₹450,000.

The couple, suspecting something was amiss, informed an employee of the adoption centre in Pune.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that the messages had originated from Mumbai and the social service branch pushed the city to look into the incident.

“After getting information, we formed a team comprising a lady constable and male police officer from the special juvenile police unit (SJPU) and approached the accused pretending to be prospective parents and wanted to adopt a newborn baby girl,’’ said senior police inspector. 

The police officer then visited a nursing home in Sion Koliwada, where the women — Julia Fernandez, 35, and Shabana Shaikh, 30 — had promised to meet to sell the baby.

However, when the accused handed over the baby to the policemen in plain clothes, the police immediately arrested Shaikh and Fernandez.

Apparently, the baby girl had been born to another couple in Delhi before she was handed over to Shaikh and Fernandez.

Their interrogation also revealed that Fernandez had previous similar cases registered against her.

Both women were arrested under charges of human trafficking.