Public sympathy for Chinese woman who killed two kids

Guangdong: A Chinese woman who poisoned her twin teenaged sons because they were partially paralysed has drawn sympathy from over 1,000 people who wrote a joint letter to a court pleading for mercy for her.

Han Qunfeng, 37, a former bank clerk in Guangdong province, allegedly got her two 13-year-old sons to drink water spiked with sleeping pills before drowning them in a bathtub in November last year.

The two had been born prematurely and had cerebral palsy. As their limbs were paralysed, they had to rely entirely on others for their care, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

After the boys died, their mother dressed them in new pajamas and then attempted to commit suicide by drinking pesticide and rat poison, a court in Dongguan said.
However, Han vomited in a semi-conscious state and was taken to hospital.

"I didn't mean to kill them. I have never given up looking after them and sending them to hospital for treatment," Han said at the hearing.

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"But I didn't see any hope that they will recover from the disease. I just wanted them to leave quietly so I let them drink sleeping pills."
Han had quit her job to look after the twins after it became harder to hire nannies.

The family did not apply to have the boys declared disabled, which would have allowed them to obtain government subsidies. They nearly went bankrupt after spending all savings on the twins' treatment.

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The family's plight has now drawn sympathy from neighbours and colleagues, who wrote a letter to the court pleading for mercy.

A judge said: "We received the letter. We also feel sympathetic for the family. But the case involves murder. We are trying to look for a balance between laws and sympathy in the case."

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