Nursing Home Owner, 3 Others Nabbed in Illegal Adoption Case in Udupi
The case came to light after officials of the Child Welfare Department received information that a couple was raising an infant without valid adoption documents
Udupi: Four persons, including a doctor, have been arrested in Karnataka's Udupi district for alleged illegal adoption of a month-old baby girl by a childless couple by creating forged documents and bypassing the legal adoption process, police said on Tuesday.
The accused have been identified as Dr K Surendra Kamath, proprietor of Kamath Nursing Home, S Prakash from Santhekatte, who allegedly illegally adopted the infant, Sampath and Supreethi, who face the charge of facilitating the illegal transfer of the baby.
According to Udupi Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar, the case came to light after officials of the Child Welfare Department received information that a couple was raising an infant without valid adoption documents.
A verification visit to the couple's residence raised suspicion, following which a detailed investigation was launched, police said.
During the probe, investigators found that Prakash and his wife, married for 11 years and have no child, were undergoing treatment at Kamath Nursing Home. It was during this period that they allegedly came to know about the availability of a baby and approached the doctor for adopting the child, police said.
Police alleged that Dr Kamath agreed to hand over the infant and facilitated the creation of forged records to show that the child had been biologically born to the couple. Based on these fabricated documents, a birth certificate was allegedly obtained from the civic body, they said.
During questioning, the couple reportedly told investigators that they did not know the identity of the infant's biological parents.
Police suspect that some of the accused persons acted in collusion to transfer the infant outside the legal adoption framework for illegal financial gain.
A case has been registered at the Udupi Women's Police Station under relevant provisions related to child trafficking, forgery and criminal conspiracy, police said.
The infant has been taken into the care of the authorities. Efforts are underway to trace the biological parents and ascertain whether more people were involved in the alleged racket, they added.
