The 25-year-old woman, who already has one child, pleads guilty in court. After the birth, she strangled the baby and threw him away in a plastic bag. After hearing his cries, a neighbour found the baby, but it was too late. Husband forgives her because she is a good mother and they cannot afford two children.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - A young woman in Beijing strangled her newborn baby before putting him in a plastic bag and throwing him in a rubbish bin – where a neighbour heard his desperate cries shortly before he died, the Qq.com news portal reported.

The accused (pictured) told the Beijing's Second Intermediate Court that at the time of the killing she was already exhausted by having to care for her first child, a one-year-old son, and the family could not afford to raise a second child..

Wan Hongyu, 25, lives in Beijing’s Daxing district. She told the court she had kept her pregnancy a secret from her husband and his family, with whom she was living at the time of the murder (July 2015. After giving birth in secret, she carried out the terrible act and tried to get rid of the baby’s body.

Her husband, who did not attend the trial and was not named, said she had lied to him when he had asked her if she was pregnant. However, he said that she is good mother and that he had already “forgiven” her for what she did. “We have a child and I don’t want him to lose his mother,” he said.

The hearing was adjourned and Wan’s sentence is expected at the end of this month. She is not likely to file an appeal.

• china
• beijing
• mother
• child
• newborn
• murder