• Source:JND
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In a shocking case pointing to the dark side of China's live-streaming obsession, a 26-year-old woman has been imprisoned for over five years for selling off her two sons to pay tips for live-streaming broadcasters and purchase luxury wear. The woman, named Huang, is from Guangxi province in southern China. As per reports from the South China Morning Post (SCMP), she sold her biological sons for a total sum of around USD 11,600, approximately Rs 10 lakh.

Huang, who herself was adopted when she was a child and never went beyond elementary education, initially sold her son in October 2020 to a family relative called Li. She was paid 45,000 yuan (approximately Rs 5 lakh) for the child. Huang reportedly told authorities that she was unable to raise the boy due to financial difficulties and because she did not know who the father was. Li’s family, who faced infertility problems, took the boy in. Investigators found that Huang spent the entire amount she received to tip online live-streaming hosts generously and buy branded clothes and other luxury goods. When the funds ran dry, she is said to have decided to do it again by intentionally giving birth to another child to sell, authorities claimed.

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In 2022, Huang paid a broker 38,000 yuan (approximately Rs 4.5 lakh) to sell off her newborn son, Guyu. The broker sold the baby for 103,000 yuan (about Rs 12 lakh). Huang spent the money on self-gratifying expenses and virtual tipping once again. Offices of the authorities were triggered when incriminating chat records exposed information of the child trafficking transaction. Both of the boys were rescued in April 2022 and transferred to the local department of civil affairs. They are currently in government care and waiting to be adopted.

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On July 8, 2025, the Fuzhou Jin'an District People's Court convicted Huang of child trafficking and fraud. She was sentenced to five years and two months in prison along with a fine of 30,000 yuan (approximately Rs 3 lakh). Her accomplices were also penalized. Li, the one who purchased the first child, was given nine months in jail with a one-year suspension of sentence, while a former landlord Wei was given seven months in jail for helping in the sale. Child trafficking, in particular boys, continues to be an on-going problem in China owing to cultural pressures to continue the male family lineage. Illicit adoptions and human trafficking still plague authorities in spite of tightened laws and awareness drives.