NANJING - A court in East China's Nanjing city on Wednesday sentenced a 22-year-old mother to life in prison for intentional homicide after she left her two young daughters at home and let them starve to death.

Le Yan weeps during her trial on charges of starving her two young daughters to death in a court in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, September 18. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Nanjing Municipal Intermediate People's Court ruled that Le Yan was guilty of intentional homicide for leaving the girls without care for several months in the Jiangning district of Nanjing, capital city of East China's Jiangsu province.

Le's two daughters, aged two and one, were found dead in a suburban community home on June 21.

Le is accused of leaving her two daughters at home in April of this year with the door and windows shut. She did not return until she was arrested by police at a hamburger eatery in the district on the day the children were found, according to court.

It is likely the two girls died of dehydration and starvation, according to a legal medical examination.

Le, who was born out of wedlock and raised by her grandmother, ran away from home at the age of 16 and became addicted to drugs later.

The children's father was detained by police in February for a drug-related crime and later released.