14 DAY TRIAL // Over the weekend, on Sunday, local authorities in Manchester, UK, were contacted by several concerned citizens who told them that they had witnessed a man trying to sell a baby in the city center.
By the looks of it, the man was seen simply approaching a passerby out of the blue and asking if perhaps he wanted to buy the child he had with him. Further, somebody told law enforcement officers that he offered to sell the infant for a measly £1,000 (around €1,400 / $1,500).
While the man was trying to negotiate a selling price, the baby, a 3-month-old girl, was sleeping in a pram, witnesses say. It is unclear if the man trying to give her away was her father or a close relative.
“Shortly after 2.30 p.m. on Sunday 12 July 2015, a man with a baby in a pram approached a member of the public on Deansgate near Barton Arcade and is reported to have offered to sell him the baby,” is the only information available in the police report concerning this odd occurrence.
Worry not, the baby is in good hands now
Having been alerted about the incident, law enforcement officers promptly investigated the matter and eventually arrested a 28-year-old man, now held in police custody on suspicion of child neglect.
It is understood that, presently, the man is being questioned in an attempt to try and sort out if he is indeed the person that witnesses saw trying to sell the infant and why he thought auctioning off a child out on the street would be a good idea to make some extra cash.
“We have now arrested a man on suspicion of child neglect and will be questioning him in relation to the incident as we try to establish the full circumstances,” detective Liam Boden with the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.
As for the 3-month-old girl, the law enforcement officers who handled the case reassure that she is now in good hands. There is no information on whether she was reunited with her family or if she is perhaps looked after by authorities.