Pakistan TV show slammed for offering babies as prizes in bid to boost ratings

Pakistani television is screening what many call its most controversial contest yet in a ruthless quest for ratings: a talk show host who gives away babies live on air.

Aamir Liaquat Hussain — a bespectacled 41-year-old with a beard — gave away two abandoned infant girls to childless families last month and plans to give away another baby boy soon.

“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.