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'Lenient' ruling in life support case
By Zhang Xuanchen |
December 11, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A MAN in southern China received a suspended three-year-sentence for removing a life-sustaining respirator from his wife, angering the woman's family, who claimed he killed her because he was having an affair.
The woman's mother said the verdict was "unreasonably lenient" after the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court handed down a three-year sentence with a three-year reprieve to Wen Yuzhang, Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.
Wen said "his deep love" for his wife Hu Jing, the mother of their two children, forced him to take her off life support so that "she could die with dignity and be free of pain," the court heard on Thursday.
But Wen's remarks were refuted by Hu's mother and sister. Hu's mother said her daughter told her shortly before her hospitalization that Wen had an affair with a woman, identified by the surname Zhang, and she had collapsed upon learning of the betrayal.
The mother showed the court records of frequent calls between Wen, 37, and Zhang to support her accusation.
She said Wen murdered her daughter because he didn't want a divorce, which would cost him compensation money, the report said.
Wen denied this charge but admitted he "lost control" after doctors told him there was little hope his wife would recover from her coma.
The court said it gave the sentence, the minimum for a murder charge, as it "sympathized with Wen's desperate choice to end the life of his beloved wife," the report said.
Hu' family will receive 1.28 million yuan (US$192,459) in compensation from Wen, the court ordered.
Hu reportedly fell into a coma at home on February 9, 2009, and had remained unconscious since then. Doctors said Hu suffered brain damage and couldn't breathe on her own. They put her on a respirator to keep her alive.
A week later, Wen removed the respirator from his wife. Some nurses tried to stop him and reconnect the device but he threw himself on top of Hu, who was pronounced dead one hour later, the report said.
Legal expert Wu Xuebin said the minimum sentence in murder cases only applies when a victim wants to die. Wu said there was no evidence proving Hu wanted to die.
The woman's mother said the verdict was "unreasonably lenient" after the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court handed down a three-year sentence with a three-year reprieve to Wen Yuzhang, Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.
Wen said "his deep love" for his wife Hu Jing, the mother of their two children, forced him to take her off life support so that "she could die with dignity and be free of pain," the court heard on Thursday.
But Wen's remarks were refuted by Hu's mother and sister. Hu's mother said her daughter told her shortly before her hospitalization that Wen had an affair with a woman, identified by the surname Zhang, and she had collapsed upon learning of the betrayal.
The mother showed the court records of frequent calls between Wen, 37, and Zhang to support her accusation.
She said Wen murdered her daughter because he didn't want a divorce, which would cost him compensation money, the report said.
Wen denied this charge but admitted he "lost control" after doctors told him there was little hope his wife would recover from her coma.
The court said it gave the sentence, the minimum for a murder charge, as it "sympathized with Wen's desperate choice to end the life of his beloved wife," the report said.
Hu' family will receive 1.28 million yuan (US$192,459) in compensation from Wen, the court ordered.
Hu reportedly fell into a coma at home on February 9, 2009, and had remained unconscious since then. Doctors said Hu suffered brain damage and couldn't breathe on her own. They put her on a respirator to keep her alive.
A week later, Wen removed the respirator from his wife. Some nurses tried to stop him and reconnect the device but he threw himself on top of Hu, who was pronounced dead one hour later, the report said.
Legal expert Wu Xuebin said the minimum sentence in murder cases only applies when a victim wants to die. Wu said there was no evidence proving Hu wanted to die.
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