Woman pleads guilty to drowning twin sons
By Zhang Xuanchen |
June 3, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A WOMAN yesterday pleaded guilty to drowning her twin sons who suffered from cerebral palsy, telling a court in south China that she became "desperate" after 13 years of treatment turned out to be futile.
Han Qunfeng, 37, said she was worried about the future of her children and decided to kill them and commit suicide to "relieve the family from long-standing pain and burden," the Dongguan No. 1 People's Court in Guangdong Province heard yesterday.
Her lawyer pleaded for leniency, saying Han committed the murder "out of desperation."
To take care of her children who suffered from cerebral palsy since they were born premature, Han quit her job as a bank clerk, visited doctors in several cities and spent all her family income over the past 13 years, the lawyer said.
But the children showed no sign of recovery, leading to Han's "collapse" on November 22 last year. After giving her sons water laced with sleeping pills, Han allegedly drowned them in a bathtub before drinking pesticide to kill herself.
"I worried about their future. Their sickness was getting worse ... they were unable to even walk on their own. But I was getting old," Han told the court.
For the first time, the trial at the court was broadcast on weibo.com, a popular microblogging website, in response to great public attention to the case.
More than 500 mothers across the country have appealed for leniency to the court, with tens of thousands of Web users signing a petition.
Han Qunfeng, 37, said she was worried about the future of her children and decided to kill them and commit suicide to "relieve the family from long-standing pain and burden," the Dongguan No. 1 People's Court in Guangdong Province heard yesterday.
Her lawyer pleaded for leniency, saying Han committed the murder "out of desperation."
To take care of her children who suffered from cerebral palsy since they were born premature, Han quit her job as a bank clerk, visited doctors in several cities and spent all her family income over the past 13 years, the lawyer said.
But the children showed no sign of recovery, leading to Han's "collapse" on November 22 last year. After giving her sons water laced with sleeping pills, Han allegedly drowned them in a bathtub before drinking pesticide to kill herself.
"I worried about their future. Their sickness was getting worse ... they were unable to even walk on their own. But I was getting old," Han told the court.
For the first time, the trial at the court was broadcast on weibo.com, a popular microblogging website, in response to great public attention to the case.
More than 500 mothers across the country have appealed for leniency to the court, with tens of thousands of Web users signing a petition.
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