Kolhapur: In a shocking incident, a woman, who was living separately from her husband due to a family dispute, sold her one-year-old daughter to a Goa-based couple for Rs 1 lakh with the help of a friend. The girl's father Dilip Vilas Dhenge (30), a resident of Ingali in Hatkanangle, complained to the Laxmipuri police station in the early hours of Wednesday and a case was registered against five persons. Police arrested the woman, her friend, and the suspect who intervened to sell the girl.
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The accused have been identified as Poonam Dilip Dhenge (25), a native of Ingli, now a resident of Pattankodoli in Hatkanangle, her friend Sachin Annappa Kondekar (40), a resident of Shahapur, Ichalkaranji, Kiran Ganapathi Patil (30), a resident of Kerli in Karvir, and a couple from Goa, Fatima Fernandes and Jerry Paul Noronha.
According to Laxmipuri police, the complainant Dilip and Poonam got married in 2018. They have a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. Poonam has been living with her mother in Pattankodoli for the past year due to a family dispute. On April 13, complainant Dilip received a call from his mother-in-law who told him that Poonam had given the girl up for adoption and asked him to intervene. When Dilip went to Pattankodoli and enquired, it was found that his wife Poonam was currently living with a friend, Sachin Kondekar, in Ichalkaranji. When questioned, she said she had kept the girl in a foster home in Ashta (Sangli district). She said she eventually sold the girl to a couple in Goa after insisting that she wanted to meet her now. She also showed a notary on a Rs 500 stamp paper.
Hupari police sent to LaxmipuriDilip approached the Hupari police station after he realized that the girl had been sold. However, the police advised Dhenge to go to Laxmipuri police station as Karveer was a notary on the premises of tehsildar's office under Laxmipuri police station limits. Based on Dhenge's complaint, the police registered a case against five persons and immediately arrested the three. Assistant police inspector Rupali Patil is investigating further.