A Pakistani talk-show host has been giving away babies live on air in a ruthless quest to boost ratings.
Aamir Liaquat Hussain, one of Pakistan's most popular television personalities, gave away two abandoned infant girls to childless families last month and plans to give away a baby boy this week.
"If we didn't find this baby, a cat or a dog would have eaten it," Hussain proclaimed during one broadcast, before presenting a tiny girl wrapped in pink and red to her new parents.
The audience erupted with applause.
Hussain usually gives away prizes like motorbikes, mobile phones and land deeds to audience members who answer questions about Islam.
But at the beginning of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, when television stations battle fiercely for ratings, Hussain astonished viewers when he presented two families with babies.
"We were told that we had passed all the interviews and had been selected to adopt a baby," said Riaz Uddin, 40, an engineer. "We got our baby on live TV."
The abandoned babies were rescued by the Chhipa Welfare Association, a Pakistani aid organisation.
"In a day or two, the next baby will be given away, God willing," its head, Ramzan Chhipa, told Reuters on Thursday.
While the Chhipa teams scour the rubbish dumps and other sites for discarded newborns, Hussain is also appealing for babies directly.
"If any family cannot afford to bring up their newborn baby due to poverty or illness then, instead of killing them, they should hand over the baby to Dr Aamir," a notice on his website reads.
The children would be given to deserving couples on air, the notice said. The show's producers did not return calls seeking comment.
It was not clear if poor families wishing to keep their children would also be helped.
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