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Updated: Aug 16, 2015 09:13 IST

A Chinese woman sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region was able to evade a prison sentence for a decade by adopting a novel, if slightly extreme, tactic - getting pregnant 13 times before finally being sent to jail by a court.

She actually claimed 14 pregnancies in 10 years, of which, one was false, and the remaining 13 were true.

The woman, whose surname is Zeng, was sentenced to life in prison for graft in 2005.

On October 17, 2005, Zeng was sentenced to life imprisonment by Urumqi Intermediate People's Court. Due to her pregnancy at the time, the court made the probation decision.

When Zeng knew that she would be put in prison, she said she was pregnant again. After the probation decision, she went for an abortion.

Since 2006, Zeng has claimed 14 pregnancies, of which, one was false, and the remaining 13 were true, People's Daily Online reported.

Recently, the Municipal Bureau of Justice resubmitted the suggestion to put her in prison to Urumqi Intermediate People's Court.

Finally Zeng, who is now 39-year-old, has started to serve her sentence in prison.