Baby theft: Chinese doctor gets suspended death penalty
A Chinese obstetrician has been given a suspended death sentence for stealing newborn babies and selling them to child traffickers. Zhang Shuxia was found guilty of abducting and selling seven babies in Fuping, Shaanxi province, the sentencing court said.
She told parents their infants had serious diseases and convinced them to give up the babies, the court said.
Zhang has been sentenced to death, with a two year reprieve.
Suspended death sentences are normally commuted to life imprisonment in China.
Zhang sold seven babies to child traffickers between November 2011 and July 2013, including a pair of twins, a judgement posted on the Weinan Intermediate People’s Court’s verified microblog yesterday said.
Six of the babies were rescued, but one baby girl died.
Zhang worked in Shaanxi’s Fuping Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital.
“Zhang used her position as medical personnel to fabricate reports about the infants, saying they suffered from birth defects or diseases that were hard to cure,” the court said in its judgement. “She abducted and sold several new-born infants, violating professional and social ethics,” the judgement added.
It is not yet clear whether Zhang will appeal, the court said.
Zhang and several other suspects were arrested after the most recent abduction case in July.
The parents reported the case to police after they suspected their baby had been trafficked.