Nagpur: The nefarious activities of the child trafficking gang have been getting bigger day by day in Nagpur with no end in sight. A new case of selling of a 15-day-old baby after separating it from its mother has come to the fore in Jaripatka Police jurisdiction. This child was sold through Shweta Khan, the kingpin of the child trafficking gang, according to local media reports.
In this case, the police have arrested two women. The arrested women are Rekha Appaso Pujari (54) and Munnibai Dwarkaprasad Lilare (48), residents of Nirmal Colony, Jaripatka. Both used to work for Shweta Khan. According to the information, in the year 2012, the 30-year-old woman was married to a young man from Balaghat. He also had 3 children. He died in the year 2018 due to cancer.
According to reports, she came to Nagpur from Balaghat and started living in Gittikhadan police station area. She used to go to Balaghat from time to time. In October 2021, during a program in Balaghat, she met a young man she knew. On the pretext of conversation, he took the woman to the forest and raped her. The man also threatened to kill her if she narrated the incident to anybody. Fearing defamation, the victim remained calm and came to Nagpur after a few days. During this the woman became pregnant and the relatives also came to know.
The victim narrated her own past. Meanwhile she met Munnibai. Munnibai assured her help and advised not to have an abortion. Later Munnibai took her to Rekha Pujari’s house. The victim woman got treated in a private hospital. On March 2, 2022, the woman gave birth to a child at Mayo Hospital. After 3 days, Rekha took the victim and her child home. On March 21, Rekha and Munnibai dropped the victim at home and took her baby to the doctor on the pretext of getting the child examined. But Rekha and Munnibai sold the baby directly without knowing the victim woman.
When Rekha and Munnibai returned home after selling the child, the victim woman confronted them and asked about the baby. The two women told her about selling the child. Rekha and Munnibai threatened the victim woman to kill her if narrated the selling of the baby to anyone. After some time Shweta Khan and her gang were caught. In the case of Koradi, the role of Munnibai and Rekha came to light and the Crime Branch arrested them.
In further enquiry, information came to light that the child of the above woman was sold and a case was registered at Jaripatka police station. So far 15 cases have been registered against Shweta Khan and her gang. More cases may come to light after investigation. Shweta Khan had opened a hospital in Balaghat to do the business of child trafficking. A Nagpur doctor used to help this gang.
This case is a grave reminder of the heinous crime of child trafficking, which continues to exist in many parts of the world. It is crucial that authorities take swift and decisive action to bring the perpetrators to justice and prevent such crimes from occurring in the future.