The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has expressed outrage over the forced abortion of an unborn child in the seventh month of pregnancy in Shaanxi, China.

The case came to light after a photo showing the corpse of an aborted baby lying next to its 23-year-old mother, Feng Jianmei, went viral.

The photo was also circulated among media by human rights groups who condemned Chinese authorities for forcing Mrs Feng to abort the baby because she and her husband already had a six-year-old daughter.

China has a one-child policy in place, but the couple were exempt as farmers, and therefore entitled under the policy to have a second baby with the permission of their local Family Planning bureau in Ankang, Shaanxi province.

The local bureau said Mrs Feng could keep the child if she paid 40,000 yuan (£4,000) but when the family was unable to raise the money, the authorities took her to a hospital and gave the unborn child a lethal injection on 2 June.

The WEA said in a statement: "Being aware that there are potentially similar occurrences in the country, the WEA respectfully calls upon the Chinese government to ensure that these tragic incidents are prevented from happening in the future.

"The WEA extends its deep condolence to the family and asks the WEA Community to pray for members of the family in their time of heartache."