A CHARITY HOME set up by Mother Teresa in India has been found to be selling babies for adoption.
Two members of staff were arrested on Thursday by Indian authorities.
A nun and one other person have been charged with baby trafficking after an investigation by the Indian Child Welfare Committee.
The home in eastern India’s Jharkhand state is run by Missionaries of Charity, an order set up by Mother Teresa.
The purpose of the home, called Nirmal Hriday (Pure Hearts) is to provide shelter for pregnant unmarried women.
The home has since been sealed off.
The arrests came following allegations that at least five infants were sold.
Earlier this week, child welfare authorities informed police about a newborn missing from the home.
The staff said initially that the baby was taken by her unwed mother but then police found evidence that the two suspects sold the child to a couple from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state for nearly S$1,700.
“They have said that at least five to six babies have been sold to childless couples,” police officer Aman Kumar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.
“We are investigating to see how the operation was run and how many more children have been given away in the last few years.”
The Missionaries of Charity stopped organizing adoptions in India in 2015 saying they disagreed with government rules that made it easier for single, divorced, and separated people to adopt children.
There have been a number of reports of babies and children being trafficked through charity-run homes and hospitals, which campaigners say is driven by a long waiting list for adoption.
