Saturday, October 23, 2010

How could I sell my own baby to Dragons' Den star? Fury of poverty-stricken father offered £700 by TV tycoon James Caan


The father of the baby that Dragons’ Den star James Caan tried to buy has condemned the multi-millionaire, saying: ‘I am not a trader of my children.’
From his village in northern Pakistan, Noor Daraz Khan said: ‘I know we are very poor but we are not shameless people . . . I can beg for my children but I cannot even think to sell them.’
Meanwhile, Caan, 49, attempted to justify offering 100,000 Pakistani rupees – about £745 – for baby Sara, who was born in the aftermath of the devastating floods that engulfed the country.
The entrepreneur admitted the outburst had been an ‘emotional response’.
'I am not a trader of children': Baby Sara's father Noor Daraz Khan says that his people may be poor, but they are not shameless and said: 'I can beg for my children, but I cannot even think to sell them'
'I am not a trader of children': Baby Sara's father Noor Daraz Khan says that his people may be poor, but they are not shameless and said: 'I can beg for my children, but I cannot even think to sell them'

The baby James Kaan offered to buy in Pakistan
In the footage, due to be screened as a series of reports for ITV's News At Ten, Caan holds the infant and exclaims: 'Oh my god, look at that. She is gorgeous'
James Caan seen here in pakistan offering aid money in exchange for a child.
Emotional: Caan was handed the newborn baby during a visit to the areas of Pakistan devastated by the recent floods
But the girl’s family remain angry at his actions. Mr Khan, a 45-year-old farmer, said: ‘I cannot believe such disrespect to a mother and father to believe you can take one of their children from them for the payment of money. If this man made our home with gold I would not sell my daughter to him. I cannot believe what a man who is a father has tried to do.’
The extraordinary bid was captured on film by a team from ITV News at Ten that had been accompanying Mr Caan, who heads a foundation aiming to raise £500,000 to rebuild a community destroyed by the floods, during a fact-finding visit to four villages two weeks ago.
In Shahi Bala, Mr Caan, whose estimated wealth is in excess of £100million, was handed baby Sara, who he was told was born shortly after the floods hit.
‘Oh my God, look at that . . . she is gorgeous,’he said, before asking: ‘Where is the mother and father?’ To the astonishment of those watching, Mr Caan then offered to buy the child, saying he would pay the family 100,000 rupees.
James Caan seen here in pakistan offering aid money in exchange for a child.
He is then seen asking: 'Where is the mother and father?' before making the disaster-struck family the 'deadly serious' offer of money for the child

'I was taken away with emotion': James Caan, right, and the baby who elicited his extraordinary offer
'I was taken away with emotion': James Caan, right, and the baby who elicited his extraordinary offer
‘I’m being 100 per cent serious,’ he continued. ‘My brother lives here and he desperately wants a baby. We can give this baby the best life she can possibly have.’
The baby’s father was working in the fields when the offer was made but it was relayed to her 30-year-old mother Razmeen Begum, who said yesterday she had been stunned, frightened and confused by the offer.
She said: ‘I would kill myself rather than sell my daughter.’
Mr Khan said that after the visit by Mr Caan – who was born Nazim Khan – the family had spent 24 hours fearing there would be an attempt to take Sara from them.
Defence: James Caan being interviewed on the ITV Lunchtime News this afternoon
Defence: James Caan being interviewed on the ITV Lunchtime News this afternoon
Sara’s aunt, Noor Zad Begum, said: ‘The floods could not break our family but the rich foreigner thought he could do that. He made us cry.
‘The floods can take our crops and take our homes but no one can buy our children . . . no, no, no.’
Dragons' Den: James Caan with fellow stars Duncan Bannatyne, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis
Dragons' Den: James Caan with fellow stars (left to right) Duncan Bannatyne, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis


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