CHINA: FATHER SENTENCED TO LIFE, GIRLFRIEND TO DEATH FOR ABUSE AND KILLING OF GIRL

December 9, 2024:

The father of a 3-year-old girl was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his girlfriend received the death penalty on December 6, 2024 for the brutal abuse and killing of the child in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The Hulunbuir Intermediate People's Court delivered its verdict following months of legal proceedings that exposed harrowing details of the case.
The two defendants, the girl's father surnamed Tian and his girlfriend surnamed Wen, declined to appeal, but the child's mother surnamed Li, filed an appeal, arguing that the father also deserved the death penalty.
According to court documents, Tian and Wen subjected the child Tian Tian to relentless abuse. They beat her, starved her, tied her up, and deprived her of sleep.
Despite noticing signs of severe distress, including seizures and breathing difficulties, the pair continued to assault her with objects such as belts, wooden sticks, and data cables.
On the morning of December 21, 2023, after Tian had left for work, Wen attacked the child with a data cable for wetting her bed. She later found Tian Tian convulsing in the bathroom. After a failed attempt at rescue, the two took the girl to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The tragedy came after Tian forcibly took Tian Tian away from her mother in February 2023, bringing her to live with him and his girlfriend in Manzhouli.
Li lost contact with her daughter until December 21, when she received a call from the police informing her of Tian Tian's death.