Chinese Couple 'Leaves' Baby With Nanny For Rs 400 Crore Inheritance From Wife's Ex-Partner

Child abandonment happens more often than you can think. Abandonment can occur without consideration for the child’s well-being, safety or welfare. Although this behaviour is against the law, it is nevertheless a little-studied social phenomenon. The subject of physical abandonment is rarely highlighted until sensationalistic news reports show up to remind us that children are still abandoned in parks or on street corners. This time, though, a couple chose to leave their child with a nanny, claiming they were going to inherit 400 million yuan (Over Rs 470 crore) from the wife’s ex-partner.

According to the report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a couple from Harbin, Heilongjiang province, in northeastern China, left their five-month-old baby with the nanny and vanished after allegedly deceiving their child’s caretaker with promises of a substantial inheritance. The couple has not been seen for over a month.

The nanny, identified as Yu, revealed to the news outlet that she was promised a monthly salary of 7,000 yuan (Over Rs 82,000) but had not been paid for several months. She even loaned the couple 50,000 yuan (More than Rs 5 lakh), further complicating her financial situation.

“I gave them all my savings, but since November last year, I haven’t received my salary. They owe me and the money I borrowed from my brother. Without any income, I’m still caring for their child,” she told Heilongjiang Radio and Television.

According to Yu, the couple convinced her of their impending wealth by showing her various documents and images including screenshots of what they claimed to be an inheritance featuring gold, luxury watches and safety deposit boxes. They also presented her with a photo of a property ownership certificate, supposedly for a hotel in the Daowai district of Harbin that they said they would soon own.

However, suspicions arose when Yu attempted to verify the information. Her efforts to contact her employers failed and a closer examination of the property certificate revealed alterations. When she contacted the hotel mentioned in the certificate, the staff denied any knowledge of her employers’ names.

SCMP reports that the nanny’s plight has triggered a wave of sympathy and outrage online, with many advising her to report the incident to the authorities since they think she could have been the victim of an elaborate fraud.