Family in China pushes daughter to marry man who raped her even offering to cut bride price but court jails him
- Surveillance film shows woman trying to escape but man drags her into flat
- Chinese law protects ‘rights and obligations’ between married couples
A court in China has sentenced a man to three years in jail for rape after he forced his fiancée to have sex with him.
The Yanggao People’s Court in northwestern China’s Shanxi province reached the verdict on December 25 when it also revealed new details about the case.
One shocking revelation was that of the reaction of the victim’s family when they learned of the violent crime – they tried to force the woman to marry her rapist.
They even agreed to postpone full payment of the traditional betrothal gift, or bride price, to hurry the wedding along because he would not legally be considered a rapist if the couple were married.
The man, surnamed Xi, and the woman, whose name the court did not reveal, met on a blind date in January last year and got engaged a few months later in May.
An engagement ceremony was held by the man’s family, during which they handed over about half of the 188,000 yuan (US$26,000) bride price and a ring.
The next day, following an engagement feast hosted by the woman’s family, Xi invited his fiancée to his flat. There, he forced her to have sex despite her firmly saying no to premarital sex more than once.
Film from a surveillance camera showed that the distraught woman had managed to escape and run to the floor below, but Xi was seen chasing after her and dragging her back.
He also took her phone away and only returned it to her when her mother called.
The woman reported the rape to the police that same evening, and they documented several bruises on her arms and wrists.
The court sentenced Xi to three years in prison for rape, despite the victim’s family suggesting a compromise which was never agreed upon by all parties.
According to the court’s official announcement on its website, rapists in China can expect to serve three to 10 years in jail.
Xi received the minimum sentence because he was in a romantic relationship with his victim and cooperated with police during their investigation.
The court said that Chinese law protects “rights and obligations” between legally married couples, and that engagement is not recognised as an official union by the law.
“If this is what he does to her when they are engaged, imagine what he would be capable of if they were married,” one online observer wrote.
“The woman’s family pushed their daughter into marrying her rapist to protect her chastity. I cannot imagine how much pressure she faced to uphold her rights,” said another.
“A person should never force their partner to have sex, even if they are married,” a third commenter said.
