Mother loses appeal in daughter’s rape case

Court finds no evidence defendants were coerced into confession

Heilongjiang Provincial High People’s Court rejected on Friday an appeal by 11 people who claimed authorities had coerced them into confessing to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl a decade ago.

The court ruled that the convictions and sentences of the defendants – one of whom was the girl’s mother – were justified, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

In 2010, 11 defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 15 years for rape and forced prostitution of a minor, who was only 14 years old when the assaults occurred in 2008 in Heilongjiang Province’s Wudalianchi city. Those convicted of sexual assault also included the girl’s father, grandfather, uncles, teachers, the village head and neighbors. Five of the 11 people have been released, including the girl’s mother, surnamed Wan and her aunt, surnamed Tang.

The appeal was made to the Heilongjiang Provincial High People’s Court in February. The court rejected the appeal saying none of the defendants were tortured into confessing.

In an interview with China Central Television on Friday, the victim who is now in her early 20s and has changed her name and moved out, said she has been trying to forget the experience but can still recall all names of the people who assaulted her. “Why would I falsely accuse my own parents?” she asked.

The case and the appeal drew widespread media coverage.

The decade-old case gained notoriety after victim’s mother, who was released from jail in 2017, appealed to courts several times claiming she had been tortured into confessing. She went to the media with her story in an attempt to reverse her conviction.

The political and law committee of Wudalianchi city had warned the public “not to believe people who deliberately create confusion.”

According to a statement obtained by the Global Times on Friday from the Heilongjiang Provincial High People’s Court, the court reviewed questions raised by the media and netizens and had sent investigators to examine records at various courts, prisons and hospitals in six provinces and cities.