A Chinese man desperate to have a son is now behind bars after selling his second daughter for 40,000 yuan ($5,740).
The man, identified as “Xiaohui,” sold his 10-day-old daughter to a couple in Hubei, over 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) away from their Zhejiang home in September.
News of the missing baby reached police after Xiaohui’s mother, Li, failed to meet her second granddaughter multiple times.
According to Li, Xiaohui would not let her in the house whenever she visited, forcing her to leave meals she prepared at their doorstep.
Li decided to report her son to the authorities earlier this month after confirming that her granddaughter was not at home.
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After being arrested, Xiaohui, who is unemployed, confessed that he sold his daughter because he wanted a son for a second child.
Police located the buyers, surnamed Zhang and Xu, on Oct. 15. They were also detained.
The married couple, who failed to have a child 10 years into their marriage, admitted to buying the baby online.
Weibo users weighed in on the story:
“This grandmother is a pro!”
“This father is a beast, I wish he had no child at all.”
“This woman must regret having him for a son.”
“Is he even human?”
“Now this is a mother!”
