CHANGSHA, China: A middle school teacher in Longhui county, Hunan province, has been executed for raping and molesting multiple students, according to a local court.
After being approved by the Supreme People’s Court, the Shaoyang Intermediate People’s Court executed Long Peizhu, 60, on Dec 1.
The court said Long had raped five female students, aged between 12 and 14, repeatedly from April 2016 to October 2020 while serving as the head teacher of the students. Three of them were under the age of 14.
The rapes occurred in his office, the school dormitory and at Long’s home.
All the students who were raped by Long have experienced mental health issues as a result. One even took her own life.
Long had also molested three students aged between 12 and 14.
According to China’s criminal law, people convicted of rape can be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, life in prison or even death. Those who rape girls under the age of 14 receive harsher sentences.
The court said Long’s case was extremely severe, violating the bottom line of the law and morality, and causing serious negative social impact.
The Shaoyang court sentenced him to death, which was then upheld by the Hunan Provincial High People’s Court and approved by the Supreme People’s Court.
The court said that protecting the rights of children has been its long-held principle and it will continue to take swift action.
According to the country’s top court, three courts in Hubei, Shandong and Henan provinces executed three men for raping children in May.
Professor Zhou Guangquan, dean of the School of Law at Tsinghua University, said what Long did was so outrageous that the punishment fitted the crime.
China’s criminal law stipulates that people who commit extremely serious crimes can be sentenced to death, and carrying out the death sentence has shown the Party and country’s resolution in punishing people who have seriously harmed the rights and interests of children and women, he told China Women’s News. -China Daily/ANN
