Mother sells infant to pay for elder child’s treatment
By IANSFriday, February 18, 2011
Mexico City, Feb 18 (IANS/EFE) Authorities in the Mexican state of Morelos are probing the sale of a newborn baby by a woman seeking funds to pay for the cancer treatment of one of her four other children, the state attorney general’s office has said.
The mother sold the infant to a midwife in Ciudad Ayala city of Morelos. The latter, in turn, handed over the baby to a US woman who was intercepted in the northern city of Monterrey while trying to return to the US.
After delivering birth Feb 6, the 30-year-old unemployed single mother sold the baby to the midwife for 5,000 pesos ($416), according to a statement from the Morelos AG’s office.
The midwife then sold the child to the US woman for 20,000 pesos ($1,670).
Both - the midwife and the US citizen - are in custody and may be prosecuted for human trafficking.
Given her condition as a poor and jobless woman supporting four children, Morelos Attorney General Luis Benitez Velez said the mother should not face any charges.
“Out of great ignorance, obvious inexperience and extreme necessity, she found herself obliged to give up the minor for a sum of money,” Benitez said of the mother.
Police caught up with the American woman near the US Consulate in Monterrey as she was trying to obtain a visa for the baby, Mexico City daily said Thursday.
–IANS/EFE
