Yu Huaying, a woman convicted of abducting and trafficking 17 children, was executed on Friday. The execution was carried out by the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court in Southwest China's Guizhou province. The death sentence was approved by the Supreme People's Court and the procedure was supervised by prosecutors from the local procuratorate.
Yu was found guilty of abducting children from Guizhou, Chongqing, and Yunnan along with her accomplices. She then sold the children for profit between 1993 and 2003.
In a first-instance criminal judgement delivered on October 25, 2024, Yu was sentenced to death for the crime of child trafficking. She appealed the sentence, but the Guizhou Provincial Higher People's Court rejected her appeal and reaffirmed the death sentence following the second-instance trial.
In addition to the death sentence, Yu was also deprived of her political rights for life and all her personal property was confiscated.
9 Comments
Leonardo
State-sponsored execution doesn't bring back kidnapped children or heal the trauma caused; it only adds another victim.
Raphael
Taking a life, even in the name of justice, diminishes society as a whole; we need systemic reform, not capital punishment.
Donatello
Child trafficking is among the worst crimes imaginable, and capital punishment is morally appropriate to punish such brutality.
Michelangelo
Sometimes the death penalty is the only true justice after the unimaginable pain caused to families and children.
Leonardo
How can governments preach human rights internationally yet continue using the death penalty domestically?
Habibi
Life imprisonment would suffice without resorting to government-sanctioned violence.
Raphael
Capital punishment doesn't deter criminals effectively and goes against basic human rights principles.
Leonardo
This sends a strict warning to others involved in child trafficking—justice remains firm in protecting the innocent.
Donatello
Instead of using the death penalty, authorities should address social and economic issues that drive people towards crime.