Four people, including a couple, were arrested for allegedly selling eggs of minor girls to childless couples at an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) centre in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. According to a PTI report, police said the gang would use money to lure the girls and get fake documents made related to the age of the minors to prove they were eligible for egg donation.
Their eggs were then sold to an IVF centre in Varanasi for huge sums, police said.
The racket came to light when the mother of a 17-year-old girl from Jaitpura lodged a complaint on October 29 with the police on an illegal "egg donation" operation running at an IVF centre, Mahila Police Station in-charge Nikita Singh told PTI.
In her complaint, the woman said her daughter was promised Rs 30,000 but was paid only Rs 11,500. She also alleged that she was kept in the dark about the entire process.
The police then launched an investigation based on the complaint and arrested a woman named Seema Devi, 30, her husband Ashish Kumar, 35, -- both residents of Navapura -- Anita Devi, 34, a resident of Khonjwan of Bhelupur Police Station, and Anmol Jaiswal, 29, of Sonbhadra.
Kashi Zone DCP RS Gautam said the accused used to target girls primarily from poor families. The probe has revealed that some employees and doctors of the centre were also involved in the racket.
Following a thorough investigation, a case against the accused was filed under various sections of the IPC, including kidnapping, cheating, forgery, exploitation of a trafficked person, as well as sections of the Aadhaar Card Act (2016) and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Act (2021).
As per norms, an egg donor should be above the age of 23 and married with at least one child above three years of age to be considered eligible for donation. Also, a woman can donate eggs only once in a lifetime.