Photo: VCG

The second trial for a Chinese couple who have been sentenced to death for conspiring to kill the man's two children was held by Chongqing Higher People's Court on Thursday morning.  

The second trial, which was originally scheduled to be held on April 3, 2023, has been postponed to Thursday due to an application by the defendants.

The man and his lover from Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, who killed his two children by throwing them off the 15th floor on November 2, 2020, and sparked fury among the Chinese public, have been sentenced to death for premeditated homicide by the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court.

The court concluded that the defendants Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen conspired to claim the lives of Zhang's two children by plotting an accidental fall, which resulted in their deaths. Their behavior constituted premeditated homicide, according to the announcement by Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court on December 28, 2021. 

The case has got a wide public attention and sparked outrage across the country, with many netizens calling for the death penalty for the couple without reprieve.

"The deeds of the two defendants have broken the bottom line of the law and morality, the motive of the crime was particularly despicable, and the means of crime was extremely cruel. The case has posed extremely bad impact to the society and should be severely punished in accordance with the law," the court said. 

Chen Meilin, the two children's natural mother, told media on April 5, Qingming Festival, when people go to sweep their ancestral tombs to pay tribute to their ancestors, that she hoped to uphold the original death sentence on the couple.

Chen said, "my children, wait for a while." Before the court hearing was due to commence, which made her very nervous and made her difficult to sleep.

The trial has attracted significant attention among Chinese netizens, receiving  more than 68 million views as of press time on Thursday, with many calling for justice over the case. 

Global Times