A mother has been arrested after trying to sell her eight-month-old daughter for US$900 in Volgograd, Russia.
Report by Mailonline
The 24-year-old Uzbekistani woman, identified as Nora Ochnev, told investigators that she needed the money to pay off a loan she’d taken out from her abusive employer.
Ochnev tried to sell her baby daughter to a neighbouring woman who promptly alerted police.
Officers arrived and secretly watched the young mother hand over her eight-month-old to the neighbour. They then swooped in and arrested Ochnev.
The 24-year-old told police she needed US$600 to pay back the debt to her employer at the farm where she was working and a further US$300 to travel back home to Uzbekistan.
She alleged that her employer had treated her like a slave, making her work to repay the debt but, because the money was so low after she took out board and lodging, she had little or no hope of even paying the interest back.
She told police that he had taken her passport as security against her running away.
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She said: “I was desperate. I just had no other choice. I had to pay back the loan. My daughter was the only asset I had.
“It was my last resort. I was scared. I was being held against my will at a farm in the middle of nowhere. I was treated badly as well and I felt it was best for my daughter as well.
“I know it was the wrong thing to do, but I thought my daughter would be better off as well – the neighbour was kind to her.”
Police in Volgograd have detained Ochnev and put her baby in care until a final decision can be made on the child’s future.
