Chinese parents sell baby girl for iPhone

Beijing: A Chinese couple allegedly sold their 18-day-old baby daughter for $3,530 (Dh12,966) to buy an iPhone. A Duan, father of the child, from Fujian Province in country’s southeast, found a buyer for his newborn on the social media site QQ. The buyer paid 23,000 Yuan ($3,530, Dh12,966) for the baby, state-run People’s Daily online reported. The man allegedly intended to buy an iPhone and a motorbike with the money. The mother, called Xiao Mei, reportedly worked many part-time jobs while the father spent his most of time in internet cafes. The couple met at work in 2013 and, after plans for their marriage were shelved since both were under age — they were both 19 at the time; in China legal marriageable age is 22 for men, 20 for women — their child was born following an unwanted pregnancy. Finding his newborn daughter a financial drain, A Duan decided to sell her and buy the material possessions he desired. Mei had fled from Tong’an after the baby was sold, but was tracked down by police investigating the illegal sale. “I myself was adopted, and may people in my hometown send their kids to other people to raise them. I really didn’t know that it was illegal,” Mei said. Mei has received a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence and A Duan was given three years in jail, the report said. The baby was purchased for the unnamed buyer’s sister. As the parents are not in a financial position to raise the child it is understood the infant is still with the buyer’s sister, the report said. The buyer allegedly turned himself over to police after acquiring the infant. As many as 200,000 boys and girls are kidnapped in China every year and sold online, according to an report last year. Child trafficking has been a long-standing problem in China, but despite the efforts of authorities, the practice is thriving, leading to thousands of families being torn apart.

Chinese parents sell baby girl for iPhone

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