SINGAPORE: A woman has been sentenced to death in China for abducting and trafficking 17 children in three different provinces between 1993 and 2003.
The retrial of Yu Huaying, 61, has drawn huge public interest across the country after her crimes came to light in 2022 when a 34-year-old victim reported her ordeal of being trafficked by Yu.
Yu Huaying was found guilty of child abduction after the retrial.
“The circumstances and the consequences of the crimes are extremely serious and she should be severely punished,” the Intermediate People’s Court of Guiyang said, in a verdict shared on its official Weibo page on Friday (Oct 25).
Although Yu confessed to her crimes, it was “not enough to warrant a lighter punishment”, the court added.
In China, the death penalty is imposed in the most extreme cases for crimes such as drug trafficking, murder and rape, courts say. Death sentences have also been handed out for political corruption and bribery cases.
Under Chinese law, anyone found guilty of trafficking women or children will face a prison sentence ranging from five to ten years, as well as a fine.
Because of the “particularly serious consequences” of her crimes, Yu received the harshest punishment “in accordance with the law”, the court said.
She was also “deprived of her political rights” and all personal property would be confiscated, it added.
TRAFFICKING HER OWN CHILD
Yu’s own son was her first victim. Chinese state media outlets reported that Yu trafficked her biological son, eventually selling him for 5,000 yuan (US$701).
She then went on to abduct 17 children from 12 families, with 5 of the families losing two children at once.