Surrogacy Racket Dupes Illiterate Women

Hyderabad:A group of fraudsters who exploit women in the name of surrogacy and allegedly cheat them without paying them the money promised are abandoning several women.

Investigations by Deccan Chronicle have revealed that the deadly mafia is involved in this child trafficking and that most of the victims are single or divorced women and come from low-income groups, who are unaware of the deadly effects of the steroids contained in them are administered. .

The blackmailers make women sign an agreement by giving them between 20,000 and 30,000 rupees as the first payment after the egg is formed. After medical examination, they would take the woman to unknown places in Chennai, requiring them to stay for nine months until delivery, sources said.

After delivery, they would claim the newborn baby and abandon the mother without paying the promised Rs 2 lakh. According to a city-based NGO, at least four women from Telangana have faced the same situation.

The NGO said the group engaged in unethical practices and fooled the women. More than dozens of women have been lured by these scammers and taken to Chennai, where they were secretly housed in paying guest accommodation, hostels and small apartments and changed their location every month. delivery.

No one knows what happens to the children after delivery. Even today, there are more than fifty women from twin cities in a child care center in Chennai.

According to one victim, they gave her some injections and tablets. “I felt energetic for a few days and later my health deteriorated. Initially, they paid me $30,000 and promised to pay $2 lakh after delivery. However, I heard from other Telugu women that they did not pay them the promised money and that they cannot file a complaint with the police because the agreement itself was illegal.

“Something has to be done about this. A very large mafia that deals in the sale of children and targets illiterates from the lower middle class. They take advantage of their poverty to benefit themselves with lakhs of rupees,” she said. She said she had contacted an NGO who assured her to look into the matter and ensure that justice is done to the victims.

“I am a widow from Hyderabad. The doctors here in Chennai are very rude and don’t say anything. They have their own network across South India, which lures women into this racket. The Telangana government must take this issue seriously,” she added.

According to senior lawyer and social activist Mohammed Rafiuddin Kaleem, the surrogacy law only allows altruistic surrogacy, where the surrogate mother is required to carry the child to help another individual or couple without receiving monetary compensation other than medical expenses and insurance coverage.

He added that the 2016 Indian Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill was based on arguments that commercial reproductive contracts, such as those for surrogacy, have exploited India’s working class and impoverished women and halted the issuance of visas to foreigners traveling to India for surrogacy purposes . In February 2024, the Indian government changed the surrogacy rules to allow the use of donor gametes for married couples only if one of the partners has a medical condition that makes it necessary.

He said the violators of surrogacy laws in India could be fined Rs 10 lakh along with a jail term of 10 years.