Woman jailed for trying to sell baby born out of wedlock

The woman tried to sell the two-week-old girl for Dh10,000

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A woman will serve jail time after being convicted of attempting to sell her baby, which was born out of wedlock, for Dh10,000.

The Ethiopian woman, 30, put her newborn baby girl up for sale two weeks after giving birth with the help of another Ethiopian woman, 28.

An Emirati woman, 43, tipped off the criminal investigations department of Dubai police in August last year, saying that her cousin may be the father of the child and the mother was trying to sell the baby.
"He called me and said the Ethiopian defendant, who used to work as a maid, had given birth and that he was not sure if he was the father, but that he feared for the infant's life. So I called him later and asked him to be honest. He then said the defendant told him he was the father," she said.
She then called the defendant and told her that she knew about the baby and that she would like to raise her.
"We met in Ajman. The [second defendant] was with her and I took the child to a clinic to make sure she was well. When we got back to the car, she asked me for Dh10,000 in return for the child," said the Emirati.
She refused to buy the child and the defendant took the baby and left.
A police officer was then tasked with posing undercover as a buyer.
"Both defendants agreed to meet the police [officer] in the car park of Al Bustan shopping mall in Dubai on September 19 last year," said a police lieutenant, 26.
During the meeting, the defendants asked for more than Dh10,000.

"The police [officer] told them that was not the agreement they had made on the phone, but the defendant told her she needed the money," said the lieutenant.
Both women were arrested as they took the money from the police officer.
In court, both women denied a human trafficking charge but were convicted.

The baby’s mother was sentenced to six months in prison while her co-accused was handed a three-month jail term. Both women will be deported after serving their terms.