Woman sells daughter (12) as wife [January 26 2013]

A 12-year-old girl from southwest China’s Guizhou Province was sold by her mother for 3,500 yuan (US$551) to a family that needed a wife for an allegedly mentally retarded son.

The girl, named Jia Jia, was sold in August last year from her hometown in Pingba County to a woman surnamed Xu in Guiyang, the provincial capital. She was forced to have sex with Xu’s 30-year-old son until her uncle rescued her a year later, according to the Qianzhong Morning Post.

The mother, surnamed Cai, gave birth to Jia Jia when she was 15. Her uncle looked after the girl but Cai took her away from her uncle in August last year, claiming she had put her to work in a restaurant.

But the newspaper reported Cai sold Jia Jia to Xu as a wife for her mentally retarded son, claiming the girl was 15.

Both Cai and Xu denied knowing it was illegal to trade people.

- gb times