Chinese Businessman Executed for Rape, 14 Victims Were School Girls

Chinese Businessman Executed for Rape, 14 Victims Were School Girls
Chinese school girls walking together. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
Daniel Holl
6/7/2019
Updated:
9/6/2019

A Chinese businessman, who was also a local government representative, was executed after being found guilty of raping 25 females, 14 of whom were minors, in a year-and-a-half period, according to a public court statement. The executions were carried out in Kaifeng City, Henan Province, China on June 4.

Zhao Zhiyong and several accomplices were sentenced to death in October 2018 on charges of rape, forced prostitution and operating a prostitution ring, according to a statement (Chinese) by Kaifeng Intermediate People’s Court.

One of Zhao’s accomplices, named Li Na, was sentenced to death with a two-year deferral. Li will do two years of hard labor and her case will be reviewed after that time, according to the court statement.

From May 2015 to January 2017, Li scouted young girls from several middle schools. She coerced the victims and brought them to Zhao at hotels and even at his own residence where he raped and sexually assaulted them, according to Chinese online news outlet The Paper.cn.

Li, along with eight other accomplices, forced the girls into sexual relations through intimidation, beatings, and inappropriate pictures taken as blackmail, according to The Paper.cn.

There were 19 counts of middle-school aged girls being attacked, with 32 attacks happening in total, according to the intermediate court statements. 

Zhao was the owner of the Tianyuan Flour Industry in Weishi County of Kaifeng City, according to Chinese online news outlet The Paper.cn.

He was also the vice chairperson for the local chamber of commerce, and a Chinese Communist Party representative for Weishi County. The report further described him as having a middle-school education.

Daniel Holl is a Sacramento, California-based reporter, specializing in China-related topics. He moved to China alone and stayed there for almost seven years, learning the language and culture. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
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