More than 500 villagers signed a petition and delivered it to the local government and justice department in Shuangliu County, Chengdu on Monday to appeal for a lighter punishment for a woman who injured a would-be rapist, reports Beijing Evening News.

Chen, who owns a hairdressing salon, was detained by police after injuring a man from a neighbouring village with a knife last Wednesday.

The man, Fan Guangze, had tried to rape her at her salon. When Chen produced a meat cleaver and told him to get out, Fan laid a hand on the table and asked her to cut it. If she dared not, said Fan, she would have to do what he wanted.

The woman was so angry that she brought the cleaver down on his hand, cutting off three fingers.

Her fellow villagers petitioned the court for a lighter punishment, saying she was "decent, hardworking, friendly and morally upstanding".

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