Chinese authorities have arrested an obstetrician Zhang Shuxia for allegedly trafficking babies. The doctor would convince parents to give up their children by saying they were gravely ill.
A baby boy was returned to his parents Monday after being recovered by police. Police are investigating five similar cases at the same hospital in Shaanxi Province.
Chinese health authorities have promised an overhaul in hospitals across the country following the arrest of an obstetrician for allegedly selling newborns to human traffickers.
Police in Fuping County in China's northwestern Shaanxi Province said that the doctor in question, Zhang Shuxia, had allegedly sold other babies to traffickers in the past. Police were investigating 10 similar cases at Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, where Zhang was deputy director of the maternity department.
The latest baby was returned to its parents amid emotional scenes on Monday, after its identity was confirmed through DNA testing. As family members wept, the parents knelt to thank police for recovering their son, the state-run China Daily reported.
Fuping County authorities said the baby boy had been allegedly sold for 21,600 yuan ($3,527) by Zhang on July 17, the day after he was born. The baby was then sold two more times in ten days.
Police said Zhang had allegedly told the child's parents, Dong Shanshan and Lai Guofeng, that their son had contracted syphilis through the mother, and convinced them to surrender the boy into her care, reported the state-run People's Daily.
But when the mother subsequently tested negative for syphilis, she grew suspicious and reported what had happened to police. The infant was eventually found in a good condition in a town in neighboring Henan Province Sunday.
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