$330,000 compensation for family of wrongly executed man

Li Sanren (L) and Shang Aiyun, parents of Huugjilt, who was wrongly executed for rape and murder at age 18, show the verdict of state compensation totaling more than 2 million yuan (about $322,000) in Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Dec 31, 2014. On Dec 15, 2014, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Higher People's Court overturned Huugjilt's previous conviction and ruled he was not guilty of rape and murder, saying that the facts of his case were unclear and evidence was inadequate. [Photo/Xinhua]

The parents of Hugjiltu, an 18-year-old who was executed after being wrongly convicted of raping and killing a woman in 1996, will receive 2,059,621.4 yuan ($332,116) in state compensation, the Higher People's Court of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region ruled on Tuesday.

The verdict has been delivered to Li Sanren and Shang Aiyun, parents of Hugjiltu, on Wednesday morning, the court said.

The parents of Hugjiltu said they respect the decision of the court.

Hugjiltu's mother, Shang Aiyun, holds a photo of her son, who was wrongfully executed 18 years ago. [Photo by Guo Tieliu/for China Daily]

On Dec 15, 2014, the Inner Mongolia Higher People's Court overturned Hugjiltu's previous conviction and ruled he was not guilty of rape and murder, saying that the facts of his case were unclear and evidence was inadequate. It was 18 years after the man was executed.

The Intermediate People's Court of Hohhot found Hugjiltu, a member of the Mongolian ethnic group, guilty of raping and fatally choking a woman in a toilet at a textile factory in Hohhot on April 9, 1996. He was sentenced to death and executed in June of the same year.

The case triggered controversy in 2005 when suspected serial rapist and killer, Zhao Zhihong, confessed to the murder after he was arrested.

Zhao allegedly raped and killed 10 women and girls between 1996 and 2005. He was tried in late 2006, but no verdict has been issued.

Related: Executed man given justice after 18 years