Parents arrested selling newborn to officer under disguise

CAIRO - 21 July 2019: A woman has been arrested while attempting to sell her baby, born July 17, for LE 65,000 in Alexandria for an officer disguised as a buyer.

The anti-illegal immigration and human trafficking department at the Ministry of Interior had received reports on a Facebook page and a Whatsapp group that post offers to sell children before it assigned the officer with the task.

The mother, Wafaa, is married but abandoned her husband more than two years ago; meanwhile, she developed a sexual relationship with Karim, a 26-year old student, conceiving their baby girl.

Unable to provide for the newborn and fearing the “scandal” of giving birth to a baby although she is in no contact with her husband, Wafaa told the police she and Karim agreed with a “broker” to sell the baby once born.

The couple found the broker’s number on Facebook, and he told them he has a LE 50,000-offer, after deducting 15,000 for himself.

Wafaa, 27, registered the baby at the hospital where she gave birth under her husband’s name after presenting a scan of his ID and their marriage certificate.

Meanwhile, the broker, Mohamed, confessed that he is active on an Arabic Facebook page dubbed “children for adoption in return for money for the family.”

The officer had been following the page, now unavailable, for four months, and Mohamed offered him several babies, but he chose Wafaa’s daughter to arrest the parents. The father and Mohamed met the officer outside the hospital only three hours after birth.

The three defendants have all been detained pending investigations. They are charged with human trafficking, offering a baby for sale, using Facebook for criminal activity, endangering a child’s life, and the parents also face the charge of adultery.

The unnamed baby girl was transferred to Ras el-Teen hospital, and will be handed over to a government-owned orphanage later.