A mum whose own children had been taken into care has been arrested after she arranged to rent a baby from another mother for EUR 100 a month.
The woman reportedly missed her own children, so she arranged to hire another woman’s 18-month-old son.
They had both allegedly met in a community for drug addicts.
In return, she paid a EUR 100-(GBP 88)-a-month rental fee, report Italian media.
The shocking story emerged when the real mother was quizzed by medics after her second daughter was taken to hospital for treatment in Palermo, Sicily.
They called police because the mother seemed uninterested in her two-and-a-half-year-old child’s welfare since only the father was present during the several-day stay.
And when police discovered she had a second baby who was missing they discovered the infant had been rented to a woman.
Both women are now facing child abuse charges while the baby has been put into care.
Although the shocking story happened last summer it has only just come to light after the local mayor honoured the police officers for rescuing the baby.
