Abuse victim on trial for killing father

A 28-year-old man, accused of killing his father, stood trial at Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court Monday.

In an unusual move, 500 residents from his village signed a petition asking for the court's leniency in sentencing, as domestic abuse was involved in the case.

A court publicity official, surnamed Gao, said Wang will be sentenced in 20 days but refused to reveal further details.

Wang Jinsheng went to his father's workplace on July 14, 2011, after being physically abused again in a dispute earlier that day. Wang hit his father on the head several times with a wooden stick he had taken along and killed him, the Beijing News reported yesterday.

"He always beat me, as well as other members of the family, so I stood up to him to keep my mom and wife alive," Wang told the court.

Wang said he and his mother had endured mental and physical abuse ever since his father was released from prison when he was a primary school student. His father had served eight years in jail for theft.

"We were unable to free ourselves but we put up with it all that time because I was afraid he would kill me," said Wang.

"That night I was tired of him being unreasonable again and asking me to divorce my pregnant wife; he even threatened to kill her. I just got to breaking point," said Wang.

During the trial, the prosecutor handed in the petition, which had been signed by 500 residents in Wang's village, who believe the murder had a lot to do with his father's constant criticism and abuse. Wang was described as a gentle and honest man of good character who worked hard to support his family.

The prosecution suggested in court that Wang's sentence should be 10 to 13 years, given that Wang turned himself in, according to the Beijing News.

Chen Jianfeng, a lawyer at Beijing Kangda Law Firm thinks the court will take the evidence of domestic abuse into consideration. But residents presenting a petition to the court is very rare, he said.

"The petition from the 500 residents, that's very unusual, and it's only happened once during my 20 years' career. This usually will have something of an effect on the court's judgement," said Chen.

A sentence for intentional homicide would normally be at least 10 years, Chen noted.