Gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl got 'lenient' sentences

The victim is accompanied by by her grandmother. (Photo: nandu.com)

(ECNS) – Seven of 12 people involved in a gang rape case were sentenced to several years' probation, which has angered the victim's family and prosecutors, the Southern Village Daily reported.

A 14-year-old girl was gang-raped by 12 teenagers last May in Wuchuan city, Guangdong province. The local procuratorate prosecuted them last December. Five of the suspects were sentenced to prison terms ranging from four years and three months to 12 years, and the other seven were sentenced to three years in jail and three to five years of probation.

The victim's family has asked Guang Dong Sun Law Firm for help in filing an appeal, said Li Quanbin, a lawyer at the firm who will represent the family in the case.

The Wuchuan Procuratorate produced a motion of protest over the judgment on June 18, saying the punishments did not fit the crimes.

The gang rape case was a vicious crime of violence, which had done great damage to the victim's mental and physical health, and had an ill effect on society, therefore, these criminals should have been punished without mercy, the procurators added.