On December 20, the Henan Provincial High Court pronounced a second-instance judgment on a vicious case that once attracted national attention last year. Four demons who committed the felony of rape and forced prostitution of young girls were all sentenced to death by the court!
As you may recall, in April last year, an "extraordinarily large forced prostitution case" involving Weishi County in Henan Province that was leaked on the Internet attracted strong attention from netizens across the country.
A local man named Zhao Zhiyong, in order to satisfy his own evil animal lust, actually forced a number of young girls and underage school girls to rape him through a woman named Li Na and a man named Liu Hongyang in 2015-2017. Later, more men, such as Zhou Hexin, participated and raped these victims together.
Since the victims of this case were all minors, including many young girls, such an extremely bad case immediately ignited the anger of netizens, and many people demanded that the judiciary severely punish these demons, and believed that the case should be punished for rape - not just "forced prostitution".
On the other hand, Zhao Zhiyong, the main criminal who raped several young girls and minors in this case, was also picked up as not only a local "well-known entrepreneur" before the crime, but also disguised himself as a "philanthropist" for a long time in order to cover up his crimes, and the local primary school and left-behind children's groups donated some money and goods. Therefore, when his crime of raping many young girls was exposed, it made people feel even more disgusted by his crime and his character!
However, since the case involved a large number of minors after all, after the unexpected exposure in April last year, the follow-up situation of the case was once again "silent" in the field of public opinion. This has also caused some people on the Internet who do not understand the work of the Public Prosecutor's Office to throw out some negative voices, fearing that the case will be "suppressed" and justice "cannot be heard".
But our legal and judicial system has not disappointed the public! A year later, on October 23, 2018, the Kaifeng Municipal Court in Henan Province responded to the people's cries for justice in this case with a fair judgment, and dispelled those concerns and worries on the Internet - the first trial sentenced Zhao Zhiyong, who was extremely heinous, to death!
Among the other three criminals who committed heinous crimes, Li Na was also sentenced to death for rape, organization and forced prostitution, and although his execution was suspended for two years, he was also "restricted from commuting his sentence"; Liu Hongyang was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the same crime, and Zhou Hexin was sentenced to 12 years in prison for rape.
However, after the first-instance judgment of this case was pronounced, all 3 evildoers except Li Na appealed, hoping to use the rights granted to the defendant by law to make a "dying struggle".
Just yesterday, the Henan Provincial High People's Court once again rendered a fair second-instance judgment on the case, finding that between May 2015 and January 2017, Zhao Zhiyong knew that many of the victims were underage girls or were forced by Li Na and others to have sexual relations with them on many occasions. Li Na used violent and coercive means to force multiple victims to have sexual relations with Zhao Zhiyong, Zhou Hexin and others many times. Liu Hongyang knew that many of the victims were young girls or were forced to have sexual relations with others by Li Na and others, but still drove to pick them up many times. Zhou Hexin knew that many of the victims were young girls and still had sexual relations with them.
Therefore, the Henan Provincial High Court rejected the appeal of these three people and upheld the verdict of the first instance, and what awaited Zhao Zhiyong would still be the death penalty, while Li Na and others would also be suspended death sentences and more than ten years of heavy sentences!
This verdict demonstrates our country's firm determination to crack down on such heinous crimes and to protect young girls and minors. More importantly, the capital punishment imposed on Zhao Zhiyong and others will also further enhance the public's trust in China's legal and judicial system, everyone is equal before the law, and the Skynet will be restored without leakage!