Nalgonda: In a shocking incident, a mother handed over her newborn girl child to a private hospital in Telangana as she could not afford to pay hospital bills after the delivery. However, when the parents approached the hospital authorities with rupees 25,000 few days later and asked them to return the baby, they got to know the 13-day girl child was sold to a childless couple for rupees 12,000 by some employees of the private hospital, who acted as middlemen.

The girl child’s mother, Janamma, said she has been visiting the hospital for a few days to get her baby back. Meanwhile, the Women Development and Child Welfare Department officials and the police have begun probing into the incident. The couple already has two girl children and went for third delivery for want of a boy. As the third child too turned out to be a baby girl, the father reportedly did not even visit the hospital to see his daughter, let alone clearing the hospital dues.