Some alert people helped the Town Police and members of the Child Helpline rescue a two-year-old baby girl who was being sold by her father in Srirangapatna in Mandya district on Tuesday.

A resident of Bengaluru, the 32-year-old man, tried to sell his daughter for Rs 500. Acting on a complaint lodged by some alert people, Town Police took the father and child into custody.

The baby was placed in the care of the Child Helpline. On enquiry, the child’s father admitted that he tried to sell his daughter as he was unable to look after her. He said that he had come to Srirangapatna along with his wife and son and was accompanied by a  friend and his son.

He told PSI Yogananjappa that on Monday his wife eloped with his friend and took away their son but left the girl child behind. The man confessed that he was unable to look after his daughter and thus planned to sell her and return to Bengaluru.

Nandini, a member of the Child Helpline, told DH that the suspect has three wives and while two of them had deserted him earlier, the third wife left him on Monday. She said that as the father expressed his inability to look after the child, she was handed over to an adoption centre.