A nun and another worker at a Mother Teresa’s charity shelter for unwed moms have been arrested after being accused of selling babies.
The home in eastern India’s Jharkhand state is run by Missionaries of Charity, the order set up by Mother Teresa to provide shelter for pregnant and unmarried women and their children.
Indian police officer Aman Kumar said at least six babies have been sold to childless couples.
He said: “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 did not respond to calls for comment.
Arti Kujur, head of the Jharkhand State Child Protection Society, said the home was charging between £450 ($596) and more than £1,000 ($1,300) for each baby, depending on what the childless couple could afford.
Kujur said: “We had been receiving many complaints regarding the functioning of this home and were keeping a close watch on them for nearly six months.”
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.
Kujur said his organization had directed that the credentials of every home run in the state should be checked.
“We hear that babies are being sold in other homes as well and are determined to put a stop to it.”
There have been a number of reports of children being trafficked through charity-run homes and hospitals, which campaigners say is driven by a long waiting list for adoption.
The Nirmala Shishu Bhavan home run by the Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand state capital Ranchi was required to inform authorities about all babies born there.
Baidnath Kumar, a local child rights activist who had filed complaints against the home, said: “They were selling more babies than what they were handing over to authorities.”