Suspended death sentence for doctor who trafficked 7 babies
Print Edition
An obstetrician who trafficked seven babies, including one who died after she was sold, was sentenced to death with two years’ reprieve yesterday in a case that drew widespread outrage over child trafficking, a chronic problem in the country.
Zhang Shuxia, who worked at the Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, sold the babies after telling parents their newborns had fatal congenital diseases and that they should give them up, the Weinan City Intermediate People’s Court heard.
She was given a severe punishment on the grounds that she had violated both her professional and social ethics and caused an “extremely bad social impact,” though Zhang confessed her guilt during interrogation, the court said.
Zhang was also deprived of her political rights for life and her property was confiscated.
In April 2013, she sold a newborn girl, voluntarily abandoned by its parents because of serious diseases, for 1,000 yuan (US$165) to two human traffickers surnamed Pan and Cui. Several days later, they thought the baby had died and dumped her in a ditch. The body has never been found.
The court said that though Zhang had not caused the death, she was responsible for leaving the baby unattended.
The other six children, including twins, have been rescued and returned to their families.
On July 20, 2013, a mother surnamed Dong suspected her baby had been abducted and reported the incident to police. The baby was found safe and well in neighboring Henan Province on August 5. Zhang had been paid 21,600 yuan by a human trafficker who resold the boy for 59,800 yuan to a couple in Henan.
Less than a month after the case surfaced, police received reports of 55 alleged cases, including 26 in which Zhang was said to have been involved.
Nine suspects, including Zhang, were detained in August.
A deputy county head, director and a deputy director of the county health bureau and several hospital officials were sacked.
Lai Guofeng, father of one of the abducted babies, told Xinhua news agency yesterday that he was satisfied with the sentence, saying: “I believe in the justice of the law.”
Lai said he had filed a lawsuit against the Fuping hospital.
Shi Ying, vice president of the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, said the poverty of rural families and a poor medical care insurance system worsened the strain that comes with parenting congenitally handicapped babies, exacerbating already rampant child trafficking, Xinhua reported.
“Some poor families in the countryside are afraid of having a handicapped child. They are afraid of spending money, so most of them choose to give up the baby,” Shi told Xinhua. “This explains why Zhang could successfully persuade parents to give up their babies.”
“To some families, the birth of a handicapped baby is the start of a nightmare,” said one of the parents of the trafficked babies.
Some 800,000 to 1.2 million babies are born with congenital defects in China every year. Most abandoned infants have such problems, Xinhua said.
“This buyer’s market generates huge demand and should not be overlooked in curbing human trafficking,” Xinhua quoted Zhang Zhiwei, a campaigner against child trafficking with the China University of Political Science and Law.
China is aware of the problem and is working to establish a state care system to provide support for handicapped infants’ treatment, said Ye Chengfang, an academic from the Beijing Youth Politics College.
Four former hospital officials stood trial on January 6 for dereliction of duty.
They were Wang Li, its former head, his deputy Yao Junmin, former director of the obstetrics department Gao Wenping, and former administrator of the delivery rooms Si Xin.
The court will announce its verdict in the case against the four at a later date.
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