China executes convicted kindergarten teacher who poisoned 25 students, killing one

A kindergarten teacher has been executed in China for poisoning 25 students and killing one of them, a court in Henan province said.

Wang Yun, 40, was arrested and convicted in 2020 of putting toxic sodium nitrite in porridge served to students at Mengmeng Pre-school Education in Jiaozuo on 27 March 2019.

The court said she had mixed poison in the breakfast of her colleague’s students after an argument over “student management”.

The incident had sent dozens of students into vomiting and fainting spells and led to many being admitted to hospital, triggering nationwide outrage and making international headlines.

One of the students, identified by the surname Wang, died from multiple organ failure after 10 months of treatment, the court said, adding that others recovered.

The No 1 Intermediate Court in Jiaozuo said the teacher’s sentence had been carried out on Thursday, according to a notice posted outside court.

Announcing her death sentence, the court called her actions “despicable and vicious”, adding that the “consequences of her crimes were extremely serious, and she deserves to be severely punished”.

This was not Wang’s first attempt at poisoning. She had previously poisoned her husband with the same substance that she bought online. Her husband survived with mild injuries.

It is not known if she had intended to kill or merely make her husband and the students sick.

China is believed to carry out more executions annually than the combined total of the rest of the world, although the exact number remains undisclosed as a state secret.

The majority of these sentences are enforced through a bullet to the back of the head, while in certain instances, mobile units administering lethal injections have been utilised.

It comes as attack on students and young people in China has become a disturbing trend in recent years. Knives have been seen as a common weapon in the country where ownership of guns is illegal.

On Monday, a 25-year-old man allegedly attacked several students in a kindergarten in Guangdong province, killing six people and injuring one. The attack sparked outrage and calls for stricter rules and increased security.

In 2020, a school guard was accused of injuring 39 people with a knife.