India couple accused of selling baby to buy iPhone 14
A couple in India's West Bengal reportedly sold their 8-month-old baby in order to film Reels for Instagram, and allegedly also attempted to sell their 7-year-old daughter.
Apple's iPhone 14
Reels are a TikTok-like part of Instagram, consisting of short-form videos. The couple are said to have intended traveling to create these Reels videos.
But the couple from North 24 Parganas, an area of south-east India, appear to have been confronted first by concerned neighbours. According to India's DailyO site, neighbours noticed the sudden absence of the baby, and how at the same time, the couple now had a iPhone despite struggling financially.
When confronted, the mother of the couple confessed to selling the baby, and also to using the money to fund travel around West Bengal to create Instagram Reels.
The mother, identified by DailyO as being named Sathi, has been arrested. So too has Priyanka Ghosh, the woman accused of buying the baby.
So far the baby's father, known as Jaydev, is still at large. There is no further news about the baby, but DailyO reports that at some point, the father also tried selling his daughter.
Police are continuing to investigate.
If reports that the model was an iPhone 14 are correct, then the price as new from Apple India is the equivalent of $975 for the base configuration.
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Comments
I hope the parents can be rehabilitated to understand what a horrible thing they have done, but if they cannot then it might be best that the children are relocated with either relatives or another family that will give them the love and care they deserve.
It's all about people who aren't in prison having this fanciful idea that our current system is reasonably good (it isn't) and that it can help people who commit crimes so as to better help society as a whole (it largely doesn't).
At the end of the day, prison is basically a very bad place that keeps people who allegedly (but not always) did something wrong (as per a judge and/or jury consisting of fallible human beings) out of the eye of "decent/innocent" society. Locking the bad guys away tends to protect people on society, although at taxpayer expense. But prison is also is a training ground for bad behavior when and if these people ultimately are released back into society on parole.
Some say it's the best we can do, but that's only because most people don't want to give more thought to it than we have already. In the end, it's sad when I read stories like this because I know the people involved probably won't be reformed, and the people who scream "lock 'em up!" really aren't bettering society in the end.
Just an observation, the prospect of harsh punishment doesn't appear to be much of a deterrent in the U.S., based on repeat offender statistics. Such is at least part of the implication in Jdw's response.
“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
I tend to fall into that category because I am almost never satisfied with the status quo, even when it comes to Apple. That makes me a crazy, misfit, rebel who always creates trouble, at least in the minds of those who later try to vilify me. But I really do see things differently. And I boldly wish to say that more people ought to THINK DIFFERENT too. Maybe we really can CHANGE THINGS for the better, if we are crazy enough to think we can change the world.