Conspiring with Husband to Kidnap Child... Arrested After Victim's Report
Court: "Stole and Sold Like Merchandise, Violating Dignity"
A child trafficker who caused an uproar across China has been sentenced to death.
The woman in her 60s named Wei Huaying conspired with two men, including her husband, from 1993 to 1996 to abduct 17 children while traveling around Guizhou and Chongqing, then took them to Handan City in Hebei Province to find buyers and trafficked them.
The case was uncovered following a report by one of the trafficking victims, 34-year-old woman Yang Niuhua. Yang Niuhua, who lived in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, was led away from her home by a woman living next door while her family was away in 1995, and was sold for just 2,500 yuan (about 500,000 won) to a rural household in Handan City, Hebei Province.
Afterwards, Yang Niuhua lived another person's life under the name "Li Suyan." Although her new parents treated her kindly, due to their poverty and living in a house with earthen walls leaking rain, she dropped out of elementary school in the 6th grade and had to start earning money.
Wi Hwa-ying, who was sentenced to death for kidnapping 17 children and trafficking them, Yonhap News
Remembering her real name and the abduction process clearly, Yang Niuhua searched for her family after becoming an adult. After posting her story on social networking services (SNS) in 2021, she was dramatically able to contact her cousin. However, Yang Niuhua’s parents had long passed away from guilt and shock over losing their daughter.
Yang Niuhua vowed, “I will definitely catch the kidnapper and make them pay,” and in June 2022, the public security authorities arrested Wei Huaying within 24 days of receiving the report.
In the first trial, Wei Huaying was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and Yang Niuhua appealed, saying the sentence was too light. Consequently, in October, at the second trial held by the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court, Wei Huaying was sentenced to death. She was also deprived of her political rights for life and had her personal property confiscated.
During the retrial process, the existence of additional victims was revealed. The number of trafficked children increased from 11 to 17, and among the 12 affected families, 5 had two children abducted simultaneously. Some of these parents reportedly died from depression. Two accomplices who helped Wei Huaying have either died or are missing.
Then, at the sentencing hearing held on the 19th, the Guizhou High People's Court dismissed Wei Huaying’s appeal and confirmed the death sentence.
The court explained, “The trafficked children were stolen and sold like commodities,” and “The dignity of the abducted children was seriously violated, and their families suffered severe damage.”
After Wei Huaying’s death sentence was confirmed, Yang Niuhua said via SNS, “The pursuit that lasted 1,313 days has finally come to an end. I never gave up until the very end, and I was able to achieve this in the end,” and added, “I thank everyone who supported me over the past three years.”
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