A couple was arrested for attempting to sell their newborn baby in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Thursday.

According to local reports, a nurse, identified as 27-year-old Haseena, contacted the couple earlier this month after a man, named Hussain, approached her seeking a newborn child. Haseena offered the couple $1,400 for their 40-day-old baby. The three of them met the man Tuesday to hand over the child.

“Hussain wanted the child to be tested for HIV infection before he accepted the boy. So the group proceeded to a private hospital in the area, where the doctors refused to perform the test as the group failed to produce a birth certificate,” police said, adding that they then left the hospital in a car.

Haseena then asked the parents of the child to get down and wait for her after which she and Hussain continued the journey. Soon, the two got into an argument after Haseena demanded extra money for handing over a male child. Haseena got out of the vehicle after the man refused to pay extra money. Hussain too got out and tried to snatch the baby from Haseena. This was when the passersby alerted the police who came to the spot and took the duo into custody.

On Thursday morning, the parents of the child were also taken into custody from a bus stand as they tried to flee. Meanwhile, the baby was being treated at the neonatal ward of a medical college hospital and was under the care of the local child welfare committee.

baby feet
Representational image of baby's feet. A father stabbed his two children in Ilford, London, before stabbing himself. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images