Sri Lanka, June 5 -- A 46-year-old mother of three was today (5), sentenced to seven years in prison with hard labour by the Colombo High Court for attempting to sell a two-day-old baby for Rs. 75,000/=.

Colombo High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe delivered the verdict, also imposing a fine of twenty thousand rupees.

The judge stated that failure to pay the fine would result in an additional six months in prison.

During the hearing, it was revealed that the defendant and her husband ran an illegal abortion centre.

A woman who had visited the centre was persuaded to give birth to the baby and sell it.

After the birth, the defendant sold the two-day-old infant to a female police sergeant at the police headquarters for Rs. 75,000/=. ...