China sentences son of military singer to 10 years imprisonment for gang-rape

A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced a 17-year-old son of a famous military singer to 10 years imprisonment for gang-raping a woman.

Li Tianyi was convicted alongside four others. 

Tianyi and other men raped the woman at a Beijing hotel after meeting her in a nightclub in February, the court ruled in a case that provoked an online outcry over the behaviour of China's elite families.

The other four defendants, three of whom were also under 18, all admitted rape.

Tianyi, the son of People's Liberation Army entertainer Li Shuangjiang, denied the charge and said that the woman left the club with them voluntarily after agreeing to paid sex.

But Beijing's Haidian District Court said there was no evidence to support his claim, ruling that Li led the group in attacking the woman, who was employed by the club part-time as a "drinking companion" for customers.

The court sentenced a 22-year-old co-defendant to 12 years in prison.

Another under-18 defendant was sentenced to four years in prison, while the remaining two were handed suspended sentences.

The sentencing comes amid a propaganda campaign by the ruling Communist Party to show the public that it upholds the rule of law, most notably in its trial last month, of deposed regional leader Bo Xilai on charges of corruption and abuse of power.

The real target of public anger in Li's case was his parents, ``whose family is seen as a symbol of the benefits reaped by [people] taking advantage of social injustice,’’ the Global Times newspaper said in a commentary.