Maharashtra Doctor Arrested For Allegedly "Selling" Infant

A doctor has been arrested by Ajni police in the city for allegedly selling an infant girl by forging her birth certificate, an official said on Saturday.

The 42-year-old accused, who runs a nursing home in Mankapur area of the district, was arrested on Friday, he said.

The girl, born in April 2022, has been recovered, the official added.

The girl's mother stated in her complaint that she became pregnant after being forced into a physical relationship with a man, a resident of Mankapur.

In March 2022, the man admitted her to the accused's nursing home where she gave birth to a baby girl.

The accused doctor discharged the woman but kept the child at the nursing home claiming that she needed treatment and later sold her, the complainant alleged.

She first approached police in March 2023 when the man with whom she was in a relationship allegedly began to abuse and threaten her, the official said.

Police soon arrested him on the charges of rape and extortion.

Further probe revealed that the doctor had used forged documents to register the girl's birth at the Godhani gram panchayat before selling her off when she was only a few days old.

A court on Saturday granted police the doctor's custody for four days and further probe was on, the official said.

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