Compiled by C. ARUNO, GERARD GIMINO and R. ARAVINTHAN

       TWO private hospitals in Tamil Nadu, India, are being investigated over allegations that they had helped harvest and sell embryos of a forcefully impregnated teenage girl, Malaysia Nanban reported.

       The sad story about the 16-year-old girl is linked to her mother, known as Sumiya.

       Sumiya, who is from Erode city, was separated from the girl’s father.

       She subsequently had a relationship with a 40-year-old man.

       Sumiya, 38, was alleged to have allowed her lover to rape her daughter and impregnate her so that they could harvest and sell the embryos in a horrifying scheme to make money.

       They reportedly sold up to eight embryos from the girl this way

       The pair then faked identity cards for the girl to escape detection.

       The hospitals had seemingly turned a blind eye to their scheme.

       When the girl eventually managed to contact the authorities, the mother, her lover, a broker they used as a go-between and a forger were arrested on various charges.

       A special police team is investigating the case.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.