3 arrested for selling 2-year-old in Dharmapuram

Dharmapuram Police arrested a mother, her partner, and a buyer for allegedly selling a 2-year-old girl for Rs. 40,000.

Police took the suspects into custody after the Dharmapuram Grama Niladhari filed a complaint alleging the child was sold to a woman in the Colombo area. During the investigation, the mother and her partner claimed they sold the child to fund medical treatment for the girl’s four-year-old sister, who suffers from thalassemia.

However, police noted that the mother reportedly used Rs. 15,000 from the proceeds to buy a mobile phone, a purchase for which the suspects could not provide an explanation. The mother and her partner are residents of Dharmapuram, while the 37-year-old woman accused of purchasing the child resides in Katunayake. All three suspects were produced before the Kilinochchi Magistrate’s Court and remanded until April 29.