A Chinese mother has been prosecuted for child trafficking after allegedly selling her newborn son for $7,000 in Xinxiang county, Henan province.
According to CNN News, the 30-year old woman surnamed Huang reportedly conspired with an obstetrician named Yang.
The doctor sold the baby to a couple for 42,000 yuan, gave 35,000 yuan to Huang and kept the remaining 7,000 yuan for herself according to reports. The said doctor is also being prosecuted.
According to news agency Xinhua, the mother-in-law of Huang notified the police back in August after she suspected that the baby was sold, NDTV reports.
According to reports, Huang left to stay with her parents after a heated argument with her husband. Two weeks later, Huang told her mother-in-law that the baby died. Huang's mother-in-law got suspicious with her daughter-in-law's demeanor as she apparently did not seem to be affected by her loss. A relative then confirmed her suspicion.
Huang reasoned to authorities that she thought the new baby would cause insecurities for her elder child from a previous marriage.
The baby boy is now in custody of his father's family, according to CNN News.
The latest report is just one of the rampant cases of child trafficking in China. Human trafficking has been an ongoing problem in China for so long. The country's traditional preference for boys and the one-child policy that couples can only have one child fuels the trade.
Just this month local officials raided and arrested 103 suspects allegedly involved in child trafficking. The authorities rescued 37 newborn babies that were placed in handbags for transport to their prospective buyers.
According to the US State Department's 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report, China has been lagging behind in efforts to eliminate trafficking. But lately, it has been slowly making progress in their efforts.
