In Feb. 2019, a man from Putian, China, sold his 5-year-old daughter to a couple for just 80,000 RMB (S$15,532).

According to Sina, the man, who can only be identified as Lu, did this with the excuse that he could not afford to raise both his son and daughter after his wife left him.

However, Lu proceeded to spend a large portion of the money he had acquired from this transaction to tip his favourite female live-streamers.

Sells daughter to couple looking to adopt

In Nov. 2018, Lu put his daughter up for adoption, citing an inability to raise both his son and daughter after his wife had left him.

Earlier this year, he was introduced to a couple - Mr and Mrs Chen - by two middlemen.

Mr and Mrs Chen had lost their son in 2017 and were looking to adopt because of fertility problems.

In Feb. 2019, the couple drove to Putian City and adopted Lu's daughter after ascertaining that she was in good physical condition.

They then paid Lu 80,000 RMB (S$15,532) and signed some documents on the spot.

Afterwards, Lu spent most of the money he had received on tips for female live-streamers.

Father & couple have been arrested

According to Chinese media reports, in May this year, the Chen couple tried to apply for an ID for their newly adopted daughter.

They forged a fake birth certificate for the girl and were caught by the police, who then summoned them down to the police station for investigations.

After further investigations, Lu and other suspects related to this incident were arrested.

Since then, the Jin'an District People's Procuratorate has filed a public prosecution against Lu, the couple and a few others for child trafficking.

Image via ppp153 on pixabay and ★★Graphis Limited★★ on Flickr, for illustrative purposes only