"Your Mother Will Sell You": Father Hides Daughter For 7 Years In China

A Chinese father allegedly kept his daughter from meeting her mother, his ex-wife, for at least seven years. He moved across the country during this time period, tricking his daughter into thinking that if her mother found out, she would sell her.

The daughter, Chen Jiayuan, now 22, said her parents split when she was six years old, and her mother was granted custody of their flat and her.

In an unexpected turn of events, her father took her away and often told others that her mother had abandoned the child. "If your mother finds you, she will sell you," Chen's father told her, the South China Morning Post reported.

He also misled his ex-wife about Chen's health, so she doesn't make any attempt to find or meet their daughter. He claimed that their daughter had cancer and was in the hospital.

The father travelled around a lot, enrolling Chen in different boarding schools every year and even changing her name. He remarried, and her stepmother often treated Chen with hostility during those seven years.

Chen compared her father's behaviour to "child trafficking."

They reunited secretly after Chen's mother, with the help of a friend, found her daughter when she was 13 years old. But the father once again stepped in and took Chen away.

Chen revealed she felt like an orphan because her mother was not allowed to meet her, and her father acted more like a stranger.

"I had a father, but he didn't feel like one. I had a mother, but I was unable to see her. I felt more like an orphan," she said.

After repeated arguments with him over her mother, Chen stole the household registration documents, the property deed and escaped.

She called her mother to let her know she was coming back to her. Chen's mother gave away the apartment to her ex-husband so she could reunite with her daughter, which the father later sold. He cut off all communication with them.