China | Father and girlfriend executed for toddlers' high-rise murder

A father in Chongqing who threw his two children out of a high-rise apartment window in 2020, along with his girlfriend who had encouraged him, were executed on Wednesday after China's top court recently approved their death sentence.

The Supreme People's Court reviewed the case and held that defendant Zhang Bo, the father, and defendant Ye Chengchen, Zhang's girlfriend, had committed premeditated murder.

The couple considered Zhang's children as an obstacle to their marriage and staged an "accidental" fall, resulting in the deaths of the two young children, a 2-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy.

In the joint crime, their roles and overall influence were equivalent, with each playing a primary role and being principal offenders.

The court held that their motive was despicable and the means brutal, warranting severe consequences in accordance with the law.

The Chongqing No 5 Intermediate People's Court handed down the death penalty in its original judgment on Dec 28, 2021.

Both defendants appealed the ruling after the first trial.

On April 6, 2023, the second trial for Zhang and Ye began at the Chongqing Higher People's Court.

On May 11, 2023, the Chongqing High People's Court upheld the original ruling and said that the sentences handed down to Zhang and Ye were appropriate. Its ruling would be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval.

In China, any death sentence handed down by a lower court is submitted to the Supreme People's Court for further review.

Executions are only allowed if the top court approves.

Source: chinadaily.com.cn, Deng Rui and Tan Yingzi, January 31, 2024

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