CHONGQING, CHINA – A man and his lover in China have been put to death by the state following their conviction for the premeditated murder of the man’s two young children in 2020.
Zhang Bo and his paramour, Ye Chengchen, were found guilty of the heinous crime after a thorough examination of their case by the Supreme People’s Court, as reported by China Daily, a state-owned publication.
According to the report, the duo perceived the children as a hindrance to their illicit relationship. They orchestrated a supposed “accidental” fall from a high-rise apartment in Chongqing in November 2020, which led to the tragic death of a two-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy.
The children were thrown from the 15th floor of a residential building in the city, as per the reports.
Ye, who initially did not know about Zhang’s marital status and his children, later persuaded him to eliminate the children, arguing that they would pose a “burden on their future life together,” as per a statement from the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People’s Court.
The same court handed down a death sentence to the couple in December 2021, which was ultimately enforced on Wednesday after a series of appeals, as per the China Daily report.
In its final judgment, the Supreme People’s Court maintained the death penalty, stating that the motive behind the killings was vile and merited severe punishment.