Beijing: In a headline-grabbing development, China executed a man and his girlfriend for throwing two children from a highrise apartment in Chongqing, in south-western China.
The case, which sparked uproar across China, saw the country’s top court recently approving the death sentences of Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen, state media reported.
The two of them had thrown the man’s two-year-old daughter and one-year-old son to their deaths from the 15th floor on November 2, 2020, Global Times reported.
After police investigation found that Zhang and Ye had conspired to murder the two kids, and local prosecutors filed charges against the duo for ‘intentional homicide’.
Zhang and Ye met through social media and got involved in a relationship, as per the indictment issued by Chongqing public prosecutor’s office.
The woman told Zhang, a divorcee, that she wouldn’t stay with him if he brought along his children.
Zhang and Ye then plotted strategy to kill the man’s two children. After discussing multiple options by talking face-to-face or through WeChat, the duo ultimately decided to act in a way to make it look like an accident.
A Chongqing court sentenced Zhang and Ye to death on December 28, 2021, which was challenged by Zhang and Ye.
In a second trial held last year, Zhang withdrew his previous confession of committing the crime, claiming that an accident caused his children’s deaths.
The Supreme People’s Court then upheld the death penalty for Zhang and Ye, ruling that they had intentionally and illegally deprived lives of others.
