Woman who trafficked 17 children sentenced to death

Yu Huaying, a woman who abducted and trafficked 17 children for financial gains between 1993 and 2003, was sentenced to death by a court in Guizhou province on Friday after a retrial.

"Considering the circumstance of her offense was extremely serious, bringing great damage to the victims and their families, we impose the death penalty on her," said the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court.

It also stripped Yu of her political rights for life and ordered that all her personal assets be confiscated.

According to the court, the 17 victims, who came from 12 families, were abducted by Yu, Gong Xianliang and Wang Jiawen in Guizhou, Chongqing and Yunnan province and then sold in Hebei province.

Gong died during the course of the case, and Wang, Yu's husband, pleaded guilty to the crime while standing trial in Yunnan in September. Yu's case has aroused widespread public attention since 2022 when police in Guiyang received a complaint from Yang Niuhua, who was snatched by Yu in Guizhou and taken to Hebei province in 1995.

Yang went to Guiyang police in 2022 to provide clues about her abduction, and Yu was soon captured in Chongqing. In September 2023, Yu was sentenced to death by the court for abducting and trafficking 11 children.

She appealed to a higher court, and the Guizhou High People's Court asked the Guiyang court to retry the case because it determined that the original ruling omitted some criminal facts.

During the retrial, which opened on Oct 11, the omitted facts referred to six other children who were abducted and trafficked by Yu.

Luo Siyang in Guiyang contributed to this story.