Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jul 5: In a decade-old child trafficking case, the second additional district and sessions court in Mangaluru, presided over by Judge Jagadeesh V N, has sentenced three individuals, including a couple, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. The case pertains to the attempted sale of an infant, with the court also imposing a fine of Rs 5,000 on each convict.
The accused are Lineta Vegas (38), her husband Jossy Vegas (54), both residents of Pajir, and Lineta’s mother, Lucy Vegas (65). Another accused, Rangavva Badami (45), the biological mother of the child, had passed away during the trial.
The case was originally registered at Ullal police station on July 26, 2013.
Lucy Vegas had approached Anganwadi teacher Rehana to inquire about obtaining an Aadhaar card and birth certificate for a two-and-a-half-month-old infant. Rehana grew suspicious and alerted the NGO ‘Childline.’ Upon visiting Lineta Vegas’s house, Childline volunteers discovered the infant and informed the police. Subsequently, a decoy operation was carried out in coordination with social workers and the police, leading to the arrest of the accused when they attempted to sell the child.
Social worker Vidyadinakar posed as a Muslim woman, and police officer Iqbal acted as her husband in the undercover operation. They expressed interest in buying the child, and the accused agreed. On July 26, 2013, they summoned the accused to a clinic in Thokkottu. During negotiations, Lineta claimed Rangavva was the child’s mother and said that Rs 2 lac was to be paid to her. She stated that she had Rs 90,000 with her, which she would give Rangavva, and the rest would be paid the next day. Lineta demanded Rs 2 lac from the couple and handed over the baby to Vidyadinakar. At that moment, the police intervened and took the accused into custody. The case was filed under IPC Section 370(4) read with Section 34. Rangavva passed away during the course of the trial.
On June 30, Judge Jagadeesh V N found the three accused guilty, and on July 3, sentenced each of them to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional six months of imprisonment. The court also ordered the confiscation of Rs 94,325 seized in the case and five mobile phones belonging to Lineta Vegas. The investigation was conducted by PSI Ramesh H Hanapur of Ullal police station, and the chargesheet was filed accordingly. The prosecution examined 12 witnesses. The case was prosecuted by special public prosecutor Jyothi Pramod Nayak.
One of the significant pieces of evidence was the testimony of a lawyer whom the accused had approached for legal advice regarding taking custody of the child. His statement supported the prosecution’s case. Jyothi Pramod Nayak also credited Childline’s Asunta D’Souza and Sarita for their cooperation in the investigation.
Rangavva had worked in a stone quarry in Pajir along with her husband, who was a driver. After the case was registered, she requested that the child be returned to her, and the authorities complied. However, after her death, there is no information on the whereabouts of the child. Neither the police nor the NGOs involved have tracked the child. Despite the conviction, the fate of the baby remains a mystery. No one from Rangavva’s family has come forward, and since no formal complaint about the missing child has been filed, no efforts have been made to trace the child’s location.
There are suspicions that the accused may have sold other children in a similar manner, possibly to individuals abroad. However, no cases have been registered in that regard.
Rangavva lived in the same locality as the accused. Allegedly, the accused had planned to sell the baby even before it was born. During her pregnancy, they persuaded her to give them the child in exchange for money. Driven by poverty, Rangavva agreed and handed over the baby.