The trial of a rape and murder case in Nanjing, some 28 years after the crimes, got underway today. Lawyers examining the case of the victim, a girl enrolled in Nanjing Medical University at the time, are expecting life imprisonment or the death penalty.
The tragic trail of events began on 20 March, 1992, when the victim, Lin Mou (林某), disappeared in the late evening after her studies in a teaching building at the university’s campus on Nanjing’s Hanzhong Lu.
Lin had had a close relationship with her roommate, who was the one to raise the alarm when Lin failed to show for class the following day. Her umbrella was discovered 4 days later, leading to her body being found nearby. The murderer had raped her and thrown her body into a courtyard sewer in the university campus.
Fast forward to 23 February of this year, when the various advances in the analysis of forensic evidence available today helped lead to the arrest of a man surnamed Ma. This morning saw Ma on trial in proceedings held behind closed doors, by way of respect for the victim’s privacy.
According to the public prosecutor, Ma committed rape by means of violence and coercion, and deliberately and illegally deprived another person of life, acts that violated China’s criminal law. The prosecutor maintained that Ma be held criminally responsible for the crimes of intentional homicide and rape.
The court, comprising three judges and four people’s jurors, heard that Ma held an iron bar to Lin and forced her to have sexual relations outside the university’s teaching building. Resisting, Ma repeatedly hit Lin on the head with the bar, after which, out of fear the crime will be exposed, Ma dragged Lin to the courtyard and pushed her into an open manhole. Lin suffered craniocerebral injury combined with mechanical asphyxia caused by drowning.
Executive Director of Jiangsu Jinxiehe Law Firm, Chang Xuan, told reporters that, according to the relevant provisions of China’s Criminal Law, the crime of intentional homicide should receive the sentence of death, life imprisonment or a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years Should the circumstances be less serious, the appropriate sentence is 3 to 10 years in prison.
Chang referenced China’s criminal law and previous cases, saying she believes that Ma will be sentenced to death or life imprisonment, reports The Paper.
Due to the seriousness of the case, it was decided to suspend the court and pass judgment at an unspecified later date.
