A teenage girl from China has written to the court asking for leniency for her father. A man electrocuted his wife, the mother of his two children, while she was taking a shower.
The case sparked widespread discussion on Chinese social media after a court in Hebei publicly released its verdict in early November. Yang, a 36-year-old man, was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife Yin in March 2023.
The couple got married in 2010. After four years, things got worse. They fought bitterly. They divorced between 2014 and 2017, but later reconciled. Still, the new marriage did not go well.
According to Yang, the constant conflicts with his wife Yin pushed him to the breaking point. She said she didn’t get along with his mother. He also suspected that she was having an affair.
Their arguments were so intense that Yang once went to the hospital to check his mental state. During the consultation, the doctor called Yin and asked her to give him emotional support. But later she mocked him.
“If you really want to die, find a quiet corner,” the woman said sarcastically to her husband.
Yang claimed that this triggered his plan to kill her. In March 2023, he electrified a metal pipe on a water heater while Yin was taking a shower.
After she died, he placed her body on their bed and gave up the next morning. His parents now care for two children, a teenage daughter and a two-year-old son.
The Hebei court ruled that the killing was premeditated. Prosecutors proposed a suspended death sentence. However, the court chose a lighter sentence to show the “warmth of judicial authorities”.
The daughter writes to the court
Yang’s 14-year-old daughter wrote to the court asking for leniency.
“I know my father made a mistake. But he has always been a kind-hearted person and he is doing well at home. I hope he can return home to help me and my brother grow up,” she was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.
The court then decided on a lighter sentence. Yang was given life in prison instead of the death penalty.
“When Yang finishes serving his prison sentence, both children are likely to grow up and start families of their own. But this life sentence could at least give them some mental comfort during the long wait for their father,” the court said.
