China: Calls for death penalty after teen gets life sentence
Key takeaways
- A 14-year-old in Yunnan province has been convicted of intentional homicide and rape, and sentenced to life in prison.
- At the time of the crime, the defendant was 14 years old.
- The court ruled there was enough proof to support the case that, in the summer of 2025, the defendant raped his then 15-year-old classmate on her way home from a party.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
A 14-year-old in Yunnan province has been convicted of intentional homicide and rape, and sentenced to life in prison. The victim's family argue he deserves the death penalty.
https://p.dw.com/p/5DSn MInternational human rights organizations have repeatedly called on China to abolish the death penalty Image: Getty Images Advertisement In late April, an unusual court trial in China's southwestern Yunnan province led to a landmark ruling, where a local court found a minor guilty of intentional homicide and rape, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
At the time of the crime, the defendant was 14 years old. It marked the first time such a severe sentence was handed down to a minor in China.