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After Hyderabad police arrested fertility doctor Dr Namratha following a complaint by a local couple, the Telangana Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has taken custody of the couple’s adopted child. According to police, Dr Namratha was targeting pregnant women from poor backgrounds, persuading them to sell their babies for money. These babies were then handed over to her wealthy clients, falsely presented as children born through surrogacy. The one-month-old baby has now been placed in Sishu Vihar, Ameerpet.
The couple had approached Dr Namratha’s Universal Srushti Fertility Centre in Gopalapuram. Namratha allegedly advised them to opt for surrogacy. However, when the couple realised that the child bore no resemblance to them, they opted for a DNA test. The test showed that the child was unrelated to the couple, which led to the complaint and the arrests. Along with Dr Namratha and six others, the baby’s biological parents Mohammed Ali Adik (38) and Nasreen Begum (25), who hailed from Assam, were arrested.
The couple has now refused to take custody of the baby.
Speaking to TNM, Women Development and Child Welfare Commissioner G Srijana said that in such a case, the custody of the child rests with the state government. “As long as the case against the biological parents goes on, the child will be in the custody of the CWC. If the biological parents do decide to ask for custody once out of jail, they can do so as can other extended relatives. But until then, the child’s custody rests with the CWC,” she said.
Mohammed Ali Adik and Nasreen Begum, the child’s biological parents are currently imprisoned in Chanchalguda jail.
A case has been registered against Dr Namratha, the biological parents and others under sections 61 (criminal conspiracy), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 335 (making a false document), 336 (forgery), and 340 (forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and sections 38, 39 and 40 of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021.