A
young Chinese couple are facing many years in jail after allegedly
selling their baby daughter to raise money for an iPhone and other
luxury goods.
The couple, identified only as Miss Zhang and Mr
Teng, are said to have placed anonymous advertisements in newspapers
suggesting they would be willing to part with their baby – unborn at
that stage – in exchange for 50,000 yuan (about £5,000).
Police
in Shanghai have charged the couple with human trafficking after
accepting money for the baby, who was born at home and still only weeks,
or months old, when sold.
Having received the money, which was
deposited in their bank account, the couple went out on a spending
spree, using part of the proceeds to buy an iPhone and trainers, Daily
Mail reports. The unemployed couple, who have two other children, were
also accused of using the money to purchase a number of luxury goods.
In
an attempt to hide that they were behind the sale of a child, the
couple tried to conceal the fact that Miss Zhang was pregnant and she
had even gone to the length of giving birth at home.
They are said to have told neighbours that the baby bump during Miss Zhang’s pregnancy was a tumour.
They
are understood to have told prosecutors that they were acting in their
daughter’s best interests, claiming they had hoped to find a home for
her with a financially stable family who would be able to provide her
with an eduction. But prosecutors said they believed the couple’s bank
records show they had hatched a ‘sinister conspiracy’ to profit from the
sale of the baby.
IPhones are a sought-after commodity in China
and only last year seven people were jailed in Hunan province for their
role in the purchase of a kidney from a teenage boy, who used the money
to buy an iPhone and an iPad.
