Outcry prompts court to take a second look
By Wang Qingchu |
July 6, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Higher People's Court in southwest China's Yunnan Province is taking a second look into a case that produced an eruption of public anger after the court weakened the sentence of a man who raped and killed a woman and killed her three-year-old brother, local news portal Yunnan.cn reported yesterday.
Li Changkui, 29, choked 19-year-old Wang Jiafei and caused her to pass out in Zhaotong City on May 16, 2009. Li raped Wang and murdered her by striking her head with a hoe after she regained consciousness. Then Li grabbed her brother Wang Jiahong's leg and bashed him against an iron door. Li used a rope to strangle both victims and fled, Zhaotong City's Intermediate People's Court found.
Li had earlier proposed marriage to Wang Jiafei, but she rejected him.
A year ago, the court delivered Li a death sentence for murder and rape and ordered him to pay 30,000 yuan (US$4,639) in compensation to Wang's family.
Although Li gave himself up to police four days after the murders, the court ruled he didn't deserve lenient treatment as Li's crime was "extremely brutal" and caused "extremely severe social consequences."
But in March the Yunnan Province Higher People's Court, acting on Li's appeal, ruled the punishment too harsh and handed down a death sentence with a two-year reprieve.
The ruling sparked outrage among the victim's family and some netizens. "Li was forced to surrender as he had nowhere to run," Wang's family told Yunnan.cn.
A total of 200 villagers signed a joint petition to the provincial Higher People's Court, demanding a reconsideration.
Netizens cited the case of Yao Jiaxin, in which Yao was sentenced to death for killing a woman after he knocked her down with a car. Although Yao gave himself up, he was not treated with mercy.
Li Changkui, 29, choked 19-year-old Wang Jiafei and caused her to pass out in Zhaotong City on May 16, 2009. Li raped Wang and murdered her by striking her head with a hoe after she regained consciousness. Then Li grabbed her brother Wang Jiahong's leg and bashed him against an iron door. Li used a rope to strangle both victims and fled, Zhaotong City's Intermediate People's Court found.
Li had earlier proposed marriage to Wang Jiafei, but she rejected him.
A year ago, the court delivered Li a death sentence for murder and rape and ordered him to pay 30,000 yuan (US$4,639) in compensation to Wang's family.
Although Li gave himself up to police four days after the murders, the court ruled he didn't deserve lenient treatment as Li's crime was "extremely brutal" and caused "extremely severe social consequences."
But in March the Yunnan Province Higher People's Court, acting on Li's appeal, ruled the punishment too harsh and handed down a death sentence with a two-year reprieve.
The ruling sparked outrage among the victim's family and some netizens. "Li was forced to surrender as he had nowhere to run," Wang's family told Yunnan.cn.
A total of 200 villagers signed a joint petition to the provincial Higher People's Court, demanding a reconsideration.
Netizens cited the case of Yao Jiaxin, in which Yao was sentenced to death for killing a woman after he knocked her down with a car. Although Yao gave himself up, he was not treated with mercy.
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