A Chinese couple, Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen, were executed on Wednesday for the 2020 murders of their two young children, a two-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy.
The case sparked outrage in China due to the deliberate and brutal nature of the killings.
Zhang and Ye, who began an affair while he was still married, conspired to kill the children, viewing them as “obstacles” to their relationship and future together. The court found that Ye pressured Zhang to carry out the murders, which they planned to stage as an accident.
On November 2, 2020, Zhang, acting on the plan, threw both children out of his 15th-floor apartment window, resulting in their deaths.
Following the incident, both Zhang and Ye were found guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced to death.
The Supreme Court condemned their actions, calling their motives “extremely malicious” and their methods “cruel.” After a series of appeals, their executions were carried out on Wednesday in the southwestern city of Chongqing, the method not officially disclosed.
The news of the executions trended on Chinese social media, with many users expressing approval for the punishment and sympathy for the victims’ families.
One widely liked comment stated, “They totally deserve it for their crime,” while another said, “Hope the kids only have peace and joy in their next life.”
Chen Meilin, the children’s mother, expressed relief after the execution, stating that “a nightmare that tortured our family for more than three years has finally disappeared.”
