Struck by extreme poverty, a 32-year-old woman from Shirdi town in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district allegedly sold her three-day-old son to a man in Mumbai for Rs 1.78 lakh, police said in Thane on Wednesday.
Police have detained the woman, the man who bought the child, and four others who helped the woman in the crime, as per an FIR registered on November 7 at Manpada police station in Dombivli town.
The woman gave birth to the child in September, but was not in a position to take care of him because of her family's poor financial condition, an official from Manpada police station said.
She then started looking for a customer to sell the child and get some money, he said.
Three women, from Ahmednagar, Kalyan in Thane, and Mulund in neighbouring Mumbai, then helped her find a customer.
They then struck a deal for selling the child to the man residing in Mulund.
According to the FIR, the child's mother with the help of the other accused allegedly sold her son to the man without any legal formalities for Rs 1.78 lakh.
Recently, acting on a tip-off, the police raided the man's premises and found the infant, the official said.
The police subsequently detained the child's mother, the man who bought the infant, three other women and a man who helped in selling the baby, the official said.
A case was registered against them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, he said.
Further probe into the case is on, he added.
