A woman demonstrates against domestic violence in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, December 10, 2014. File Photo: VCG

The Dezhou Intermediate People's Court in East China's Shandong Province announced on Thursday it was withdrawing the initial verdict and reviewing the case in which the husband and in-laws of a 23-year-old woman abused her to death for being infertile, after it drew public ire over the "lenient punishments" given to the abusers. 

The announcement came after the victim's mother was dissatisfied with the verdicts of the first instance and appealed to the Dezhou Intermediate People's Court, the People's Daily reported on Thursday.

"The original trial, which did not involve state secrets or personal privacy, violated legal procedures as it did not take place in open court. Therefore, the initial judgment has been revoked and sent back to the Yucheng People's Court for a retrial," the statement read. 

During the review period, the Yucheng People's Court, where the sentence was passed, will receive supervision and guidance from the Dezhou Intermediate People's Court, to ensure an open, fair trial in accordance with the law. 

Relevant information about the case will be disclosed to the public in a timely manner, the notice said. 

The victim, surnamed Fang, was abused to death in January 2019 through beating, freezing, starving and confinement by her husband and in-laws, after they found out that she could not get pregnant, media reports said.

The case went to trial in January this year, and the defendants were given what some legal experts say were "excessively lenient punishments" for committing the crime of family abuse. The in-laws were given two to three years in prison, while Fang's husband was given two years in prison with a three-year probation. 

Global Times