Woman wanted boy dead so she could have a baby with her new husband without violating the 'one child' policy

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

A Chinese court has sentenced a mother to death for hiring a man to strangle her 9-year-old son so she could have a baby with her new husband without violating the "one child" policy.

Li Yingfang had previously ordered a failed attempt on the life of her young stepdaughter, court officials in Shaanxi, central China, confirmed today.

Population laws introduced three decades ago prevent most couples from having more than one child. Those who break the rules face strict financial penalties. The case came as the country's official media hinted that the government may be discussing reform after it published a survey showing that most women want more than one child.

Li, 36, gave custody of her son to the boy's grandmother after her first husband died, an official at a lower court in Weinan confirmed to the Associated Press news agency.

People who remarry may have second children if their new partners are childless. But Li's second husband had a daughter from his own first marriage, preventing the couple from having a child together legally.

According to Shaanxi Television, Li initially paid Wang Ruijie about 70,000 yuan (£6,900) to kill her stepdaughter. But after the girl resisted and escaped, Li took her own son to a meeting with Wang, who strangled the boy and left his body by a rural road.

The court in Weinan originally imposed a suspended death sentence because Li had suffered from depression after having two abortions because of the population laws. Such sentences are often commuted to life in prison. But the higher people's court in Shaanxi ordered her execution after it ruled her depression was not directly related to her crime.

Wang was given a suspended death sentence. Both were ordered to pay compensation to the bereaved grandmother.

The survey cited in the Chinese press found that women are increasingly keen to have more than one child. Its publication may reflect ongoing discussion within the government about how to reform the laws. The authorities are usually keen to play down opposition to the policy.

"Our research shows that 70.7% of women would like to have two or more babies," said Jiang Fan, vice-minister of the National Family Planning Commission, according to China Daily. "Some mothers think only-children suffer from loneliness and can become spoiled."

He added that the gender gap among newborns was a "very grave" problem, although the trend had slowed since 2005. The ratio remains above 103-107 boys to every 100 girls.

The survey said that 83% of women wanted a son and a daughter.

Last year China's top family planning official tried to draw a line under the debate, saying the policy would not change substantially over the next decade.

A vice-minister had earlier said officials were carrying out detailed studies into the repercussions of changing the law and that it had become "a big issue among decision makers".

Exemptions to the "one child" policy are already made for ethnic minority couples, or where both partners are themselves only children. Some experts believe a uniform two-child policy would be a better solution.

China argues the rules are necessary to prevent a population already approaching 1.4bn from soaring out of control.

But in addition to exacerbating the gender imbalance and accelerating the ageing of the population, it has led to resentment because of wide variations in its enforcement and because the rich have little heed for financial penalties which are crippling to poorer couples.