Poverty-stricken mother sells baby

A poverty-stricken woman sold her four-day-old infant for Rs. 5,000, but tipped off the police when she heard that the woman broker had sold the child to a couple in Galle for Rs 50,000, Police said.

The woman Sitthi Nisa and husband Mohamed Akeel, parents of seven children, told police they sold the child to the woman from Dickwella because they did not have the means to look after the child whose birth had not been registered as he was born at home. The parents told police that a few days after they sold the child, they found out that the woman had sold the child to a Galle couple for a higher price.

The parents had then demanded more money from the Dickwella woman and when she refused to budge, they gave an anonymous telephone call to the Dickwella police. The police arrested not only the Dickwella woman, but also the Galle couple and the parents of the child. They were produced before the Matara Magistrate Rohan Jayawardena and released on Rs. 100,000 personal bail for each of them.