A
woman from Urumqi, northwest China has avoided jail for ten years by
getting pregnant 14 times in the course of a decade. The woman, known
only as Zeng, was sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption by
Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court ten years ago.
When
she learned that she faced jail time she announced that she was
pregnant, and the court decided to allow her to go on probation, The People’s Daily Online reported.
According to Chinese laws, pregnant women may be given probation when jail sentences are made.
After the first probation decision was granted, Zeng went for an abortion.
And after she regained health, she fell pregnant again and re-applied for probation.
This
pattern continued for ten years, with Zeng claiming 14 pregnancies to
avoid serving time – only one of which was ultimately found to be false.
However
it is unknown whether any of the babies were carried full-term, or
whether all of them were aborted over the course of the decade.
Zeng, now 39, has finally been imprisoned after a resubmission of the order by the Municipal Bureau of Justice.
