Rapist executed after final appeal

The Qinzhou Intermediate People's Court in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Tuesday carried out the execution of Yang Guangyi, who raped a 10-year-old girl, after Yang's death sentence was upheld by the top court.

Yang, a native of Guangxi, used "cruel and violent means" to rape the girl, according to the court. She had been heading home after picking passion fruit to sell in Qinzhou in 2018. The girl died as a result.

He was sentenced to death for rape by the intermediate court in 2019, but the sentence was changed to a suspended death in 2020 after his appeal, as the Guangxi High People's Court said Yang turned himself in after the rape and such behavior could be granted some leniency.

The victim's mother appealed to higher court. In November last year, the top court ordered the high court to set up a new panel to retry the case.

After the retrial, the high court withdrew the previous ruling, saying Yang was not eligible for lenient punishment because the nature of his particular offense was extremely cruel, and what had done brought great negative effects to society.

The top court acknowledged the verdict newly made by the high court, saying those seriously harming children must be harshly punished, including being given the death sentence, under Chinese laws. 

It also said the approval of Yang's death penalty showed the country's strong determination against people who sexually assault juveniles.

Before the execution, the intermediate court told Yang he had the right to apply for a meeting with his relatives, but Yang refused, the top court added.