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In a recent incident, two separately married individuals from China, surnamed Zhang and Wen, who met in their children’s class chat group, fell in love and eloped by abandoning their families, South China Morning Post reported, quoting Xiaoxiang Morning News.
They shared their contact details over the group which was set up by the teacher for parents to stay up-to-date on homework and be able to track the progress of their children.
These two eventually developed feelings for each other.
Zang often mentioned that she was subjected to domestic violence at home and after having met Wen, she felt a sense of warmth.
She stated that she was often subjected to extreme violence in the year 2019, which is when she wanted to elope and start a new life with Wen.
Wen, without divorcing his wife, left her and his children behind to start a new life with his newfound love.
Both of them lived together for almost five years. Wen settled the divorce with his wife after Zang became pregnant, and later Zang too divorced her husband.
The publication further added that on May 24, the couple informed about their cohabitation to the police, however, reason being unknown. An online observer speculated that they might have turned themselves in upon not being able to obtain a marriage certificate and also being unable to register their child’s birth.
In China, cohabiting with someone other than a spouse is morally as well as legally unacceptable and bigamy is a punishable offense leading to two years of imprisonment.
The court recently found out that the pair was guilty of blasphemy and the verdict was made public, thus sentencing both of them to four months of imprisonment.
However, considering the fact that the child needed proper care, Zhang’s sentence was suspended for six months.