Suicide pact survivor charged with murder

A man has been charged with the murder of his lover after he survived an apparent suicide pact. The accused, a 34-year-old surnamed Xu, is charged with stabbing to death a 36-year-old woman, surnamed Ding, Pudong New Area prosecutors said yesterday.

The pair, who were both married, decided to die together as their families disapproved of their plans to divorce their spouses and marry, according to prosecutors.

Xu suffered serious injuries to his abdomen in the incident.

A married man and father of a boy and a girl, Xu met Ding, who was married with two sons, at a foot massage shop in the Pudong New Area where she worked as a masseuse.

After being in a relationship for a year, they decided to divorce their partners and marry, but their families were strongly opposed.

The two are said to have planned to fatally stab each other on a riverbank on March 17.

According to prosecutors, Xu asked Ding to stab him twice in the stomach. Then he stabbed her.

Afterward, they embraced as they became increasingly weak and Xu called his sister to tell her what they had done, said prosecutors.

Police went to the scene after receiving a report from a passer-by that a man was crying for help at the riverside.

Officers found Xu and Ding lying on the ground with knife wounds.

Medics pronounced Ding dead at the scene and Xu was taken to hospital for treatment.

Ding died from wounds to her throat and abdomen, doctors said.