A woman who abducted a 10-month-old girl so as to convince her boyfriend that it was their child has been sentenced to one year and three months behind bars by the Qingpu District People’s Court.

The abduction occurred on May 1 in a park in Liantang Town when the girl’s grandfather left her briefly in the care of the convicted woman, surnamed Deng, who was an acquaintance of his. When he returned some 10 minutes later, he found that Deng and his granddaughter had disappeared, court said.

Hours later, police found the child safe and sound in a rented house, together with Deng, 46, and her boyfriend surnamed Yang, 40.

According to investigators, Deng and Yang started a romantic relationship in 2015. Deng got pregnant in 2016 and returned to her hometown in Hunan Province. There, she terminated her six-month pregnancy.

When she returned to Shanghai alone, Deng led Yang to believe that their child was being raised by her relatives in Hunan. When Yang demanded to see the child, she plotted to abduct a baby girl, prosecutors said.

She planned to raise the abducted girl together with Yang as though it were their own child, according to the court.