Child abductor retried after new evidence

Yu Huaying, who had been sentenced to death for trafficking 11 children for illicit gains, was retried at the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court on Friday after prosecutors uncovered evidence of her involvement in the abduction and sale of six additional children.

Yu, born in Yunnan in 1963, colluded with a man surnamed Gong, who died during the course of the investigation. Together, they abducted children from Chongqing, Yunnan, and Guizhou, and sold them in other provinces between 1993 and 2003.

Among the 17 trafficked children, five pairs were siblings.Yu's first victim was her own son, whom she sold for 5,000 yuan (US$707).

On September 18 last year, Yu was sentenced to death by the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court in southwest China's Guizhou Province, in a first-instance verdict. The court deemed her actions to constitute child abduction, noting the particularly severe criminal circumstances and the profound negative impact on society.

Yu expressed her intention to appeal the decision to a higher court.

Yu was arrested by police in June 2022 following a complaint from Yang Niuhua, a woman who was snatched by Yu in Guizhou and sold in Hebei in 1995 for 2,500 yuan (US$354).

Yang, 34, had been trying to find her biological family when her efforts paid off in 2021 when a cousin saw her video on social media. After a successful DNA match, Yang was reunited with her family 26 years later. Tragically, her parents had passed away in 1997 and 1998.

She went to Guiyang police to file a complaint about her abduction in 2022. Yu was caught shortly after and prosecuted in February 2023.

Yang attended the trial on Friday morning, hoping that Yu would receive severe punishment and that the death sentence would be upheld to deter other child traffickers.

Reflecting on the devastation caused to families and her deceased parents, Yang said to China Central Television, "How could I not hate?"

The court said the verdict will be announced in due course.