July 2017 a 46-year-old woman was murdered by her 55-year-old husband at their home in Xiping Village, Yangzhou. Today’s sentencing of the case highlights China’s struggle with accepting and getting help for people with mental illnesses.
The couple were thought to have had an argument on the day of the murder. It is said that the wife, only known as Yang, was always dissatisfied with her husband and that the husband mistrusted his wife.
Neighbours revealed that the couple had just brought their 22-year-old daughter and grandchild from Guangdong back to the family home in Yangzhou, northeast of Nanjing.
Prosecutors in the case have revealed that both the father’s brother and daughter suffer from mental illnesses; the brother reportedly “died of mental illness”. Yang apparently angered her husband by shouting, “Your whole family is mentally ill. You are a waste!”
It was been assumed that the husband was to plead not guilty on the grounds of mental illness. However, the court found that he had committed a crime of intentional homicide and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, reported Sina News Jiangsu on 2 April. The daughters and granddaughters of the couple were left unattended.
Mental illness in China is recognised, however, sufferers are still ostracised and abandoned by their family and fellow villagers. Help for mental illness is gradually improving in the country, but social prejudices may take time to change.
