No bail to accused in child-selling case

Mumbai: A sessions court rejected the bail application filed by two ladies arrested for attempting to sell a child. The police arrested accused after getting a complaint from activist of Child Line Trust.

The sessions court judge H.B. Gaikwad rejected the bail pleas filed by Suvarna Kopula (35) and Kavita Chitiyala (35), both residents of Borivali. The Kasturba Marg police had arrested the applicants after receiving secret information from member of a Child Line Trust about some persons planning to sell a child near Borivali court.

Following this the police laid a trap on December 7, 2018 and at around 2.30 pm six women and a man came to the spot whose behaved suspiciously. When the police tried to nab them, the man ran away and the ladies were held.

The police said that during the probe it was revealed that one Akila Shaikh sold her child to another woman called Laxmi Uthnoori and the applicants – Kopula and Chitiyala– were acting as agents.

The applicants contended before the court that the police falsely implicated them in the case. Their lawyer argued that the applicants had gone to Borivali court only to see if the child could be adopted. As the probe was over and chargesheet has been filed, the custody of accused was not required, he argued.

The public prosecutor opposed the bail plea saying that the offence was serious, as the accused were involved in human trafficking, There is possibility of tampering with evidence if they are rele-ased on bail, he argued.

Judge Gaikwad ob-served that considering the accusation made aga-inst the accused and the nature and gravity thereon, apparently there is co-mplicity of the applicants in the alleged crime.

“The applicants tampering with the prosecution evidence, absconding and committing similar type of offence in future can not be ruled out at this stage,” observed the judge, while rejecting the bail application.