It’s been a
while since I posted something from the headlines. However, I recently came
across a story that filled me with an overwhelming feeling of “WTF?” and I thought I’d share it with
you all. If you had any faith left in humanity be prepared to lose it.
Our tale - which I read here - comes from China, where a couple in the Guangdong Province has been
arrested for selling their young son... TWICE!
In jail are 20-year-old sperm donor, A-hui and his
girlfriend the 19-year-old “mother”, A-mei.
After these parents-of-the-year
contenders got off the hook in January for selling their 4-day-old son, they
turned right around and did it again last month.
Their excuse the first time was that they were neither
married nor ready for the responsibilities of parenthood. They decided to sell the
child to a trafficker for 20,000 Chinese Yuan (about US$3,225). This would have
been the end of the matter, as far as they were concerned, were it not for the
child’s grandfather, on the father’s side. When he found out what they had
done, he found the trafficker and bought the child back, having to pay the
marked-up price of 30,000 Yuan (US$4,836).
Unfortunately, grandpa made the questionable decision of
returning the boy to the custody of his parents and they all kept the incident
between themselves.
Still, it seemed like things were going okay for a while
after that incident. In May, A-hui and A-mei moved to another city, A-hui got a
job in a restaurant while
A-mei stayed home and took care of baby. A-hui’s income was modest, to say the
least (he only brought in 3,000 Yuan (US$484) a month from his
job) but they appeared to be managing.
Until daddy’s little obsession reared its ugly head.
Before I go any further let me confess, I play video games.
I LOVE video games. I’d dedicate at least one-third of my waking hours playing video
games if I could (the other two-thirds would
be evenly distributed between watching Japanese anime and blogging, FYI). That
being said, I've also spent money on,
as well as, in video games. Still, I
know where to draw the line. There are some, however, who do not. Once upon a time when I wrote on
Sprocket, I shared a story about a promising young Japanese police officer who tried
(and failed) to blackmail a woman to fund
his gaming addiction. A-hui takes things a step further, though.
Instead of
feeding his new family, A-hui spent his modest paycheck in internet cafes where
he played online games well into the night, as he used up the family’s only
source of income to level up his in-game weapons and armor. Then, in June, when it
became clear his salary alone wasn't going to cut it, the couple made the
decision to get in touch with the traffickers they sold the child to before so
they could put him up for sale the second time.
Yeah...
This time
around they only got 16,000 Yuan (US$2,580) for their son. Whether this
was because the traffickers knew they were desperate or because they factored
in the diminishing value on return babies is unknown.
Sorry.
Again, grandpa found out. This time, however, he was fed up
and decided to put the matter into the hands of the police. Both “parents” were
arrested and now police are trying to track the baby down.
During her
incarceration, A-mei said her baby daddy
blatantly declared to her that he did not care what happened to the child. Even
when she went so far as to threaten to beat the child up, he remained totally
unconcerned and said she could do whatever she wanted.
Yeah, isn't he a piece of... work!
My only hope is that the
police are able to find the child and, at the end of all this, he ends up in a
good home with parents who place much value on him that the cost of virtual gaming
gear. Well... that and for someone to sell A-hui on the black market.
They probably won't get much, though.
They probably won't get much, though.