Telangana Shocker: Couple Sell Infant Son for INR 1.5 Lakh Due to Financial Crisis in Medak, Arrested

Hyderabad, March 11: A tribal couple from the Medak district of Telangana has been detained after they reportedly sold their newborn baby boy to a childless couple for INR 1.70 lakh. The incident occurred in the Haveli Ghanpur mandal. Authorities were alerted to the transaction by local Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, who noticed the infant was missing during a routine follow-up visit.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the biological parents, already struggling with severe debt and poverty, felt they had no other recourse to support their existing children. The biological parents have been identified as residents of a local thanda (tribal settlement). According to the police, the couple already has two daughters and claimed that their worsening financial situation made it impossible to raise a third child. Telangana Shocker: Debt-Ridden Man Arrested for Killing 3 Daughters by Throwing Them Into Kamareddy Lake.

The deal was allegedly brokered through mediators who put the tribal family in touch with a childless couple from the neighboring Sangareddy district.

Rescue Operation and Legal Action

Upon receiving the tip-off, a joint team consisting of the Medak Police and the Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) Department launched an immediate rescue operation. The infant was successfully recovered from the house of the purchasing couple in Sangareddy and has been shifted to a state-run Shishu Vihar (child care home) for medical observation and temporary care. Telangana Shocker: 19-Year-Old Engineering Student of RGUKT Dies by Suicide a Day After Lover’s Death.

The police have registered a case under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Both the biological parents and the couple who purchased the infant, along with the intermediaries involved in the transaction, are currently being interrogated. Authorities are also investigating whether this was an isolated incident or part of a larger, organized child trafficking network in the region.

The Role of Financial Distress

The Haveli Ghanpur region has seen a rise in reported cases of financial instability among tribal communities. Local activists point out that while the government provides various welfare schemes, the "last-mile" delivery of these benefits often fails to reach those in deepest poverty. In this specific case, the biological father reportedly owed significant amounts to private moneylenders, a factor that police believe directly led to the decision to sell the newborn.

"Selling a child is a grave offense, regardless of the financial circumstances," stated a senior official from the Medak Child Protection Unit. "We are working to ensure that the family is connected with existing social safety nets, but the legal process for child trafficking must take its course."

This incident is not an isolated one in Telangana. Over the past year, several cases of infant sales have been reported across Medak, Sangareddy, and Karimnagar. In most instances, the buyers are childless couples who bypass legal adoption channels, which can take years, in favour of illegal, immediate transactions.

The Telangana government has recently intensified its "Cradle Scheme" and increased monitoring of pregnant women in high-risk areas to prevent such incidents. However, the prevalence of middlemen who exploit both the desperation of poor parents and the longing of childless couples remains a significant hurdle for law enforcement.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 11, 2026 05:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).