A Chinese court yesterday commuted the death sentence of a woman who killed her abusive husband, her lawyer said, with a rights group labeling the move a “landmark verdict.”
The case of Li Yan (李彥), who in 2010 beat to death her husband — who had physically hurt her and three previous wives — has thrown the spotlight on domestic abuse, a largely taboo subject in China.
Her case was sent back to a court in Sichuan Province in June last year, her brother had said previously.
Ziyang Intermediate People’s Court yesterday resentenced the 44-year-old to death with a two-year reprieve, said her lawyer, Wan Miaoyan — which means the penalty is likely to be commuted to life in prison, as is the norm in China.
“I can confirm that the sentence has been changed from an immediate death sentence to a death sentence reprieved for two years,” Wan said.
However, she added that Li should have been sentenced to 12 years.
“I spoke to Li shortly before the trial and she said she cherished the opportunity to have her case reviewed,” Wan said. “Every night before she went to sleep, she told herself that she was only alive because of the support she received from a lot of people.”
Rights group Amnesty International’s China researcher William Nee said Li’s reprieve “could prove a landmark verdict for future cases where domestic violence is a mitigating factor.”
In 2009, Li married Tan, who US-based advocacy group Dui Hua said had bragged about abusing previous wives.
He “kicked and beat her, stubbed out lit cigarettes on her face, locked her in a room without food, kept her outside on a balcony in frigid winter temperatures and cut off part of her finger,” it added.
In November 2010, he attacked her with an air gun, but she grabbed it from him and used the butt of the weapon to kill him, it said.
The Ziyang court did not respond to requests for comment.
Less than two decades ago, physical abuse was not even acceptable as grounds for divorce in China, but in 2001 the marriage law was amended to explicitly ban domestic violence for the first time.
Abuse still takes place in 24.7 percent of Chinese families, according to the All China Women’s Federation, which is linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
US-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders was critical of the court’s decision, saying Li “faces execution in two years.”
“China once again shows its unwillingness and its empty promises to protect women,” its international director Renee Xia (夏濃) said.
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