Jharkhand: Missionaries of Charity staff member and nun arrested for allegedly selling a baby
The Child Welfare Committee filed a complaint after a couple informed them about the crime.
Jharkhand Police arrested a nun and an employee of a Ranchi-based organisation run by the Missionaries of Charity, a trust set up by Mother Teresa, for allegedly selling a baby, IANS reported on Thursday.
The police arrested Anima Indwar, an employee at Nirmal Hriday, on Wednesday based on a complaint filed by Child Welfare Committee’s Ranchi unit chairperson, Rupa Verma. They arrested the nun, who has not yet been identified, on Thursday.
A member of the committee, Pratima Tiwari, told The Times of India that they realised a baby boy was missing during a routine inspection.
“Missionaries of Charity’s Jail Road chapter gives shelter to women who have no place to give birth,” Tiwari said. “We contacted the mother and she told us that she does not have the child. We followed this up with the institution again. The nuns then contacted the family to whom they had sold the child for Rs 1.2 lakh.”
The Child Welfare Committee chairperson alleged that she filed a complaint after the couple – to whom the accused had given the child to – asked her to intervene, PTI reported. “The Uttar Pradesh-based family claimed that Anima Indwar, who handed over the child to them on May 14, called them up on July 1 and asked them to visit the shelter home for completing certain formalities,” Verma said. “When the child was brought to the shelter home, Indwar took the boy away.” She alleged that the accused had committed more crimes of this nature.
The child is currently in a government shelter for children.