Doctor, gynaecologist wife arrested in illegal adoption case

The mother of the victim Joyti who works as migrant labor, in February last year, filed a complaint at Karnal's Kunjpura police station. She alleged that on September 18, 2021, the Meerut-based doctor couple had taken her four-day-old son on the pretext of providing treatment.

A few months before the child's birth, she came in contact with the doctor couple. She gave birth at Karnal's KCGMCH, and four days after the birth, the doctor couple allegedly told Joyti that the baby was facing respiratory problems, therefore, the baby should be shifted to their Meerut hospital for better treatment that would be free of cost. Joyti alleged that the doctor couple made her to sign on the blank paper stamp paper and took her baby along.

Police, in their investigation, later found that the baby was illegally adopted by Vishal Shrivastav and his wife, Neha. Vishal had the affidavit calming that Joyti had given her consent to adopt.

However, when the police interrogated Joyti, she mentioned that she was not aware of Vishal and neither aware of the affidavit. She sought the police to bring the baby back to her. After investigation, the baby was recovered and handed over to Jyoti.

The accused doctor couple was booked by the police on June 15 under Sections 363, 368, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 after the investigation by the women protection officer-cum-child marriage prohibition officer Rajni Gupta.

As per the police, they were trying to evade arrest, however, cops arrested the Meerut-based couple who had adopted the boy illegally in September last year. HT reports that the police had recovered the child from their Chandigarh-based relatives.

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