A 35-year-old woman from Pune was arrested by the police yesterday for selling her daughter, now 15, to a pimp in Malwani. Cops said the mother had traded the teenager five years ago, when she was merely 10, for an initial amount of Rs 5,000, to be followed by a monthly sum of Rs 20,000.

Other than the mother, the cops also arrested her friend, who allegedly runs a sex racket in Mumbai. The friend, identified as Salma Sheikh (42), is a Malwani resident. According to police officials, the mother-daughter duo stayed in Malwani around five years ago. At the time, the mother, a divorcee, was friends with Sheikh, and had sold the child to her for Rs 5,000.