GUIYANG - A court in Southwest China's Guizhou province upheld the death sentence for Yu Huaying, a woman convicted of abducting and trafficking 17 children, in a second trial on Thursday.

Yu was found to have abducted children from Guizhou, Chongqing and Yunnan along with her accomplices, and sold them for profit in the city of Handan in Hebei province between 1993 and 2003.

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Yu was initially sentenced to death by the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court in September 2023 after being found guilty of abducting and trafficking 11 children. Yu immediately appealed.

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In November 2023, the Guizhou Provincial Higher People's Court held a second 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 retrial, conducted in October by the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court, revealed that the number of children involved in the case had risen from 11 to 17. Yu was once again sentenced to death and, as before, submitted another appeal.

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On Thursday, the Guizhou Provincial Higher People's Court rejected her appeal and reaffirmed the death sentence. The ruling will be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for examination and approval.

Yu was also deprived of her political rights for life and all of her personal property will be confiscated.