"In-Laws Abuse Daughter-in-Law to Death Over 'Not Bearing Children'... Public Outrage Boils in China"

"Law Fails to Protect Women," "Blaming Women for Infertility" Sparks Public Outrage in China

Weicheng People's Court, Shandong Province, China / Photo by Baidu

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] It has recently come to light that a couple in China abused their daughter-in-law in her 20s to death because she could not bear children, sparking public outrage. Earlier, the first-instance court in China sentenced the couple and their son, who assisted in the abuse, to prison terms, but as public opinion criticized the punishment as too lenient, a higher court has decided to order a retrial.

According to reports from local Chinese media such as China Daily and Hongxing News on the 24th (local time), the People's Court of Dezhou City, Shandong Province, China, recently overturned the first-instance ruling by the Weicheng People's Court regarding the abuse charges against the in-laws, which had been controversial due to the excessively light punishment, and requested a retrial.

Previously, the Weicheng People's Court found the victim Ms. Pang's in-laws and husband guilty of abuse in the first trial. As a result, the father-in-law, Zhang Jilin, was sentenced to three years in prison, the mother-in-law, Liu Lanying, to two years and two months, and the husband, Zhang Bing, who assisted in the abuse, was sentenced to two years in prison with a three-year suspended sentence.

The court stated that the in-laws' family had paid 50,000 yuan (approximately 8.45 million KRW) in compensation to Ms. Pang's side and that they confessed to the crime and showed signs of remorse, which were reasons for the sentencing.

According to the reports, Ms. Pang married Zhang Bing in November 2016. Their marriage was a kind of arranged marriage involving a transaction, with Zhang Bing's parents reportedly paying 130,000 yuan (approximately 22 million KRW) to Ms. Pang's family.

A childhood photo of the victim, Pang. / Photo by Weibo capture

However, the married life of Zhang Bing and Ms. Pang was not smooth. From July 2018, Ms. Pang suffered physical and mental abuse from her in-laws and husband because she could not become pregnant. The in-laws and husband reportedly starved her, confined her, beat her, and even made her stand outside the house in cold weather.

Ultimately, Ms. Pang died on January 31, 2019, after enduring the abuse. At the time of marriage, Ms. Pang weighed 80 kg, but at the time of her death, she reportedly weighed only 30 kg.

As these facts became known, criticism of the first-instance ruling erupted on Chinese social networking services (SNS) such as Weibo (China's version of Twitter).

Chinese netizens expressed anger, saying, "This is a case where the responsibility for infertility was shifted to the woman instead of the man," "The law does not protect women," and "The husband received a light sentence using marriage as a shield." One netizen pointed out, "Is it reasonable that the punishment is lighter than for writing obscene books or possessing model guns?"

Accordingly, a retrial for the case is scheduled. The retrial at the Weicheng People's Court was postponed once at the request of the victim Ms. Pang's family and will be held on the 27th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.