Baby offered for sale on eBay prompts German probe

BERLIN — German police said on Thursday (Oct 13) that they were investigating a refugee couple after their one-month-old baby was put up for sale on the online auction platform eBay for 5,000 euros (S$7,600).

Police launched a probe into possible human trafficking after they were tipped off about the advertisement, which appeared online for around 30 minutes on Tuesday.

The 40-day-old girl has been handed to child protection officers, police from the western city of Duisburg said in a statement.

Police raiding the couple’s apartment also took away material potentially serving as evidence.

Preliminary investigations show that the advertisement was put up using the Internet connection of the couple, identified by police only as “refugees”.

However, police said the Internet connection was also in use by other members of the family, adding that the probe was ongoing.

Local media reported that several photographs of the black-haired infant were seen in the advertisement, which was titled “40-day-old child named Maria ...for sale”.

A spokesman from eBay told national broadcaster ZDF that employees from the company had alerted authorities after noticing the advert on Tuesday. AFP