Feng Jianmei had to go through the termination earlier this month in the northern province of Shaanxi because she failed to pay a hefty fine for exceeding China’s strict “one-child” population control policy.
The case caused an outcry when photos emerged online of Feng lying in a hospital bed in Zhenping county next to her baby’s bloody corpse, prompting an official probe that concluded action should be taken against the perpetrators.
But a relative said Tuesday that Feng’s husband Deng Jiyuan had gone missing Sunday.
“The last time I saw him, he was with all of us and he said that some leader wanted to speak to him, so he left,” the relative, who refused to be named or otherwise identified, said.
“We haven’t seen him again since, and we can’t get through to his mobile.” Calls made to police and government in Zhenping, and to the higher-level Ankang city government, went unanswered.
Under the measure, urban families are generally allowed to have one child, while rural families can give birth to two children if the first is a girl. Parents have to pay a fine if they contravene the rules.
Rights groups say that as a result of the policy thousands of women have been forced by authorities to terminate their pregnancies.