A Chinese man has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison after he stole money from his ex-girlfriend by using her fingerprint and lifting her eyelids open to unlock her cellphone while she slept, according to reports, writes insider.com.

The 28-year-old man, identified only as Huang, went to the woman’s apartment in December 2020 while she was feeling unwell, The Times reported. He then cooked a meal for the woman, identified only as Dong, and laced it with drowsy cold medicine, lulling her into a deep sleep.

Once she was asleep, Huang used his ex-girlfriend’s finger to unlock her Huawei phone, according to court documents seen by the local state-run newspaper Nanning Evening News.

He then lifted Dong’s eyelids to unlock her Alipay app - a Chinese online payment platform - using facial recognition software, the newspaper said. After this, according to The Times, he changed her password and withdrew USD 24,155 from Dong’s digital wallet to pay off his gambling debts.

The next morning Dong recognized unusual transactions and made a report to the police. Huang had already fled to another city, the media outlet said, but police found and arrested him in April this year.

In addition to his prison sentence, Huang was fined USD 3,137.