China: No matter what the problem is, parents never turn away from their children. But a man from China sold his child, that too only so that he could go on a world tour with his girlfriend.
According to the report of Zhejiang Legal Daily, a man, surnamed Xie, sold his two-year-old son nicknamed Jiajia to relieve the burden of child care.
Xie sold him to a childless couple in Changshu, a city in Jiangsu province, for 158,000 yuan (US$24,400). After the incident came to light, the man has been detained by the police.
Xie, the father of the boy, was given custody of the child after divorcing his first wife who kept custody of their daughter. But due to his work commitments in another city, Xie left the boy in the care of his brother Lin and other family members in Huzhou city.
However, last month, Xie took away his son from his brother Lin, saying that his mother wants to see him. After a few days, when the boy didn’t arrive at his destination, Lin contacted the police.
The police conducted an investigation into the matter and found out that Xie had sold the boy to a childless couple in Changshu, a city in Jiangsu province, for 158,000 yuan (Rs 18 Lakh). He then used the money to take his new wife to different parts of the country.
Jiajia was returned to his uncle late last month and the couple is now facing ‘criminal coercive measures’.
The report also said that Xie and his former wife had two other daughters, who had previously been “given” to another family, but it did not say whether police were investigating that case.