Karkh court jails two women for selling child in human trafficking case

BAGHDAD — The Karkh Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced two women to seven years in prison for human trafficking, including a mother who sold her young daughter for 20 million IQD ($14,020) in Baghdad, according to a statement from the judiciary media office.

The ruling was issued under Article 6 (First and Fifth) of Anti-Human Trafficking Law No. 28 of 2012, in conjunction with Articles 47, 48, and 49 of the Iraqi Penal Code, and with reference to Article 132/2.

In recent days several similar cases were noted. Iraq’s National Security Service said Tuesday it arrested three women in Diwaniyah on charges of trafficking newborns, including an unlicensed midwife accused of selling infants. Authorities transferred the infant to the neonatal department at the Women and Children’s Hospital for medical care. The suspects were placed in detention under Iraq’s anti-human trafficking laws pending further legal action.

Earlier on Monday, the Rusafa Criminal Court sentenced a woman to 10 years in prison after she was found with a child she had purchased for 9 million dinars ($6,322) and intended to resell.