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Chinese waitress freed after stabbing official to death during sex assault
A Chinese waitress who stabbed a government official to death when he tried to sexually assault her has been freed at the start of her trial.
By Peter Foster in Beijing
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Chinese waitress, Deng Yuijao, who claims she stabbed a government official to death when he tried to sexually assault her will go on trial today Photo: AFP
Deng Yujiao, 21, was originally arrested on suspicion of murder but was found guilty by the Badong county court in Hubei, central China, of the lesser charge of causing injury with intent.
To the delight of legal activists and bloggers who campaigned for her to have a fair trial, the court ruled that Miss Deng should be released after taking into account the fact that she suffered "mood disorders" and had turned herself over to police and co-operated with the investigation, according to a brief report on the official People's Daily news website.
The case of Deng Yujiao has become a cause celebre in China, with websites and women's groups mounting a sustained word-of-mouth campaign in her support. Her story sparked impassioned debate about the widespread abuse of power by government officials, a growing culture of prostitution and the right of women to defend themselves in a patriarchal society where they still have limited sexual rights.
According to a witness statement by Miss Deng that was leaked to the media, she stabbed the official, Deng Guida, 41, in a local hotel after he assaulted her when she refused to provide him with "special services" – a euphemism for sex – on May 10. The graphic account, published by the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, said Miss Deng had been stripped from the waist down and forced onto a sofa as the official cursed her and slapped her round the head and neck with a wad of banknotes.
Miss Deng, who said she protested repeatedly she was not a prostitute and begged to be excused, then stabbed the official in the neck with a pocket knife that she used in her work as a pedicurist in the hotel in the town of Yesanguan. Her case won widespread sympathy on the internet, where her defiance and courageousness was cited as a morality play for modern China by those lobbying for her release.
A week after the incident the local government office took the almost unprecedented step of issuing a public statement promising that Miss Deng would receive a fair trial in a move seen as attempt to calm mounting public anger at her treatment. A second official, Huang Dezhi, 44, who was present during the incident and wounded by Miss Deng, was sacked from his government job and stripped of his Communist Party membership.
Her release drew a mixed response from Chinese internet users yesterday, many of whom were pleased to see her walk free but also raised concerns about the shortcomings of the Chinese legal system that the case has exposed. Miss Deng’s release was greeted with a mixture of jubilation at her "victory" but also concern at what many saw as a politically directed verdict that was aimed at forging a compromise to appease public anger while allowing officials to save "face".
“I can’t believe there are people thinking that it is a step forward of our legal system!” said an anonymous commenter on Southcn.com, a popular local news website in southern China, “Deng Yujiao has been convicted not cleared! “The decision not to punish her [with a jail sentence] comforts the public but it also protects the other corrupt official. It is the best logical result produced by the interest groups. The trial this morning is simply a performance.”
“Guilty but no punishment? Such a harmonious decision,” wrote another, making ironic reference to the Communist Party’s frequent pronouncements on the need to maintain a ‘harmonious’ society in China. On the Strong China Forum, a discussion site on the official People’s Daily website, many said the verdict was to be welcomed, although other posts argued that Miss Deng should still not have been convicted of a crime for defending herself.
“They charged as guilty a woman’s normal reaction when facing the threat of being raped!,” wrote ‘Swimmer’ but another, ‘Happy Family’ said: “From Deng’s release I’ve seen hope for ordinary people. We are entitled to protect our lawful right. All corruption must die.” Xie Lihua, the director of the Beijing-based Rural Women Development Centre, said the case highlighted the need for better protection for women who were not lucky enough to receive the public attention that surrounded the Deng Yujiao case.
"This is the best possible result," she added. "But of course this result is because of pressure from all sides; from the women's associations/organisations, and also from the general public. If the case had been handled locally the result might have been very different." However she added that the public furore surrounding Miss Deng had still sent out an important message. "The case is definitely a milestone. It is a legal lesson to all Chinese women, who now know that it is rightful, and nothing to be afraid of, to defend themselves against violence."
