6 jailed over woman trafficking, abuse in China's Jiangsu

NANJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A court in east China's Jiangsu Province on Friday handed prison terms to six people after convicting them of trafficking, incarcerating and abusing a woman.

Dong Zhimin was sentenced to nine years behind bars for abusing and illegally incarcerating Xiaohuamei, the woman with whom Dong has lived since 1998, according to the municipal intermediate people's court of Xuzhou.

Five others received jail terms ranging from eight to 13 years, as well as fines, for the crime of woman trafficking, according to the verdict.

Five of the six convicted have pleaded guilty during the two-day trial.

In a case that caused a stir on the internet in 2022, the woman later identified as Xiaohuamei was abducted from her hometown in Yunnan Province and taken to Jiangsu Province in 1998. She was later trafficked three times before being purchased by Dong's family in Fengxian County.

Between 1999 and 2020, Xiaohuamei gave birth to eight children for Dong. Police said Dong had shackled and incarcerated the victim, and frequently starved her since 2017 after Xiaohuamei's mental illness deteriorated.

The court said Dong's abusive acts rendered Xiaohuamei's schizophrenia irreversible and caused serious injuries. Xiaohuamei has been diagnosed with a mental disability.