The mother of twin baby girls arrested for selling them, has told the Tirunelveli district police that she wanted the money to give her older daughter a better chance in life as she was too poor to care for all of them.
Selvi, 32, reportedly confessed she sold the babies as she was promised Rs 35,000 for them and hoped to use the money to secure the future of her six-year- old daughter, as she had no support from her estranged husband.
One of her neighbours, Fathima, 35, who, it later turned out, was neck deep in child trafficking, advised her to sell the twins and introduced her to her partners, 60-year-old Suleka of Melapalayam and Ponnuthai of Sambavarvadakarai, who persuaded her to give them to a childless couple and a man from Vadalivilai in Kanyakumari.
While Selvi expected to get the promised Rs 35,000 from the couple, Ayyasamy and Mariammal of Kovilpatti and Thanasamy of Vadalivilai, the brokers gave her only `5,000 and pocketed the rest, according to the police, who arrested them all.
The case was cracked six months after the trade took place thanks to a child helpline coordinator, Jayaraj.
But it is only one of many such cases in Tirunelveli district. In 2010, a pastor, Rajan of Valliyoor, was arrested for selling orphans to foreigners.