China executes ex-official for raping minors
Former official of the Communist Party’s Yongcheng branch executed after being convicted of raping 11 underage girls.
China has executed a former official of the ruling Communist Party after he was convicted of raping 11 underage girls, state media reports.
Li Xingong, 44, was executed after he was found guilty by a court in the central city of Yongcheng, Henan province, state broadcaster China Central Television quoted court officials as saying on Wednesday.
Li, the former deputy secretary of Yongcheng’s Communist Party branch, was arrested in May 2012 after police found him having sex in a car with an underage girl, earlier reports said.
The convicted man had his appeal rejected by the Henan Provincial Higher People’s Court, and his execution was approved by China’s Supreme People’s Court.
Online commentators had reacted furiously to initial reports of Li’s alleged crimes.
His execution was carried out “at a time when China has vowed to beef up protection for juveniles following a series of sexual abuse cases involving children”, the official Xinhua news agency said.
It also coincides with a major drive, led by party leader and state president Xi Jinping, against corruption and abuse of power by officials.