Kushinagar: A man was allegedly forced to sell his three-year-old son to secure his wife and newborn child from a private hospital after he was not able to pay the fee, according to officials.
The incident took place at Barwa Patti in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
After learning about the incident, authorities acted quickly and arrested five people on Saturday, including the couple who had taken the child.
Harish Patel, a resident of Barwa Patti, who works as a daily wager, went to the hospital to receive medical care for his wife's delivery, according to the police.
However, the hospital staff did not let the mother and the baby leave when he was unable to pay the fee immediately.
The father consented, in desperation, to sell his three-year-old son on Friday for a few thousand rupees through a forged adoption deed, according to the police.
According to locals, it was the sixth child of Patel.
When police got to know about the incident, they lodged a formal investigation and detained five people including Amresh Yadav, the alleged middleman; Bhola Yadav and his wife, the "adoptive parents"; Tara Kushwaha, a fake doctor; and a helper at the hospital Sunganti, Santosh Kumar Mishra, Superintendent of Police, said.
The SP has also removed a police constable from active duty and sent to a police lines for allegedly failing to intervene in the case.
The officer said, "The child was safely rescued and returned to his parents."
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