Amritsar, July 6
Even as the DNA report conclusively established the parentage of the male child, Amarpartap Singh , who was swapped and sold by the midwife six years ago, Chief Judicial Magistrate Varinder Aggarwal today sentenced Sukhwinder Singh and his wife Ranjit Kaur of nearby Raipur (Amritsar) and midwife Ramesh Rani to seven years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000 each.

The court also directed the district police chief to find out the biological parents of the female child, Muskan, who was brought up by Harish and Manju, the petitioners.

Harish and his wife Manju claimed to be the biological parents of the child Amarpartap Singh. Manju had given birth to him on July 1, 2000, in a private nursing home, where accused Ramesh Rani worked as midwife. Manju who reportedly fell unconscious during delivery was told by the nursing home staff that she had delivered a baby girl. It is alleged that at the time of delivery, midwife Ramesh Rani gave her a sedative to rest. The child Muskan, handed over to her by the nursing home, was being brought up by the couple since then.

This is perhaps the first case to be decided on the basis of a DNA report in this region. However, there seems to be no end to the agony of Harish and Manju for the time being as they could not get the custody of their biological child in wake of the application moved by the alleged culprits . The court had stayed the handing over the custody of the child to his natural parents till disposal of the application.

Ramesh Rani has confessed during interrogation that Manju had given birth to a male child who was sold to Sukhwinder Singh and Ranjit Kaur.

On the basis of DNA report, the prosecution had argued that the test had established the six -year-old Amarpratap Singh was born to Manju and Harish and the child be handed over to his biological parents. However, the defence counsel had said Sukhwinder Singh and Ranjit Kaur had brought up the child and hence he could not be separated from them.

This racket of selling, swapping and buying new borns was exposed after a vigilant relative of a woman found that the child delivered to her a night ago had an umbilical cord (navel) which was about 20 days old. The police caught up with the midwife who had delivered the child after she had settled with the informer to pay her Rs 20,000 to hold her (midwife's) silence on the issue. Thereafter, the midwife had reportedly confessed to at least 14 "deals" clinched in a racket of midwives.