In a major exposé, a major child trafficking racket has been uncovered at the Universal Srushti Fertility Centre in Secunderabad. It had been operating IVF and surrogacy services for over 15 years across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The Hyderabad Police told that there was no genuine practice of surrogacy procedures, but instead, babies were bought from the biological parents and were being handed over as ‘surrogate children’. The babies had no genetic connection to the couples who paid up to Rs. 35 lakh, believing they were receiving their own biological child.
Police Investigation and Arrests
North Zone DCP S Rashmi Perumal told NDTV that they exploited the desperation of couples who wanted a child and the biological parents who could not keep the child as their own.
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A total of eight new cases are filed against the centre’s owner Dr. Athluri Namrata, and her associates. At least 25 people have been arrested, including doctors, lab staff, managers and biological parents involved in the illicit act.
The case came to light when a Rajasthan couple realized that the child did not have any genetic link to them after a DNA test.
How was the Racket Operating?
The investigators found out that the accused posed as fertility specialists and made their victims believe that they could get them a biological child with the help of surrogacy. The couples paid up to Rs. 30-40 lakh, thinking that their collected embryos had been implanted, and after nine months, babies from ‘anonymous’ mothers were delivered to them.
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Fake medical and DNA reports were given to the parents to convince them that the child is their own. Agents earned approximately Rs. 3.5 lakh for a girl and RS. 4.5 lakh for a boy. On the other hand, biological parents were paid a little fee of Rs. 90,000.
In some instances, the fraud gave the victims premature or dead babies, leading to threats when couples confronted them.
Two infants abandoned by both biological and prospective parents are now being kept in a government childcare facility, Shishu Vihar.
