Guiyang, Oct 11 (IANS): A court in Guizhou Province, southwest China, on Friday held a retrial of a woman charged with abducting and trafficking 17 children.

In September 2023, the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Yu Huaying to death after finding her guilty of abducting and trafficking 11 children from Guizhou and Chongqing to the city of Handan in Hebei Province between 1993 and 1996. Yu and her accomplice, a man who has since died, sold the children for profit, Xinhua news agency reported.

The court also deprived Yu of her political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all her personal property. Immediately after the verdict was announced at the court, Yu submitted an appeal against the ruling.

In November 2023, the Guizhou Provincial Higher People's Court held a second-instance trial and in January 2024 ordered a retrial of the case after the police discovered that Yu was implicated in more child trafficking cases.

The number of children involved in the high-profile trafficking case has since risen from 11 to 17. The children came from 12 families, five of them losing two children at the same time, according to the court. Some children were even abandoned midway.

The verdict will be announced at a later date, the court said.