In one case, a 33-year-old married migrant worker was sentenced to 20 years in prison last week by the city's Jiangning District People's Court for raping four women.

Luo Shuang, from a village outside the district, was quoted by local newspaper Nanjing Daily as saying that he felt pained by his sexual frustration and regretted the crimes he conducted. Luo even asked judges to give him the death penalty out of shame.

"Luo is a typical example of how a migrant worker can go off the rails due to sexual frustration. This tragedy definitely deserves widespread attention, because it keeps happening again and again," said Yin Jinfu, vice-dean of the Public Prosecution Department of the Nanjing Municipal Procuratorial Department.

Statistics from procuratorial bureaus in four major districts in Nanjing showed 78 cases of rape were reported involving migrant workers between 2004 and 2005, accounting for 48 per cent of all rape cases in the districts in the period.

The youngest migrant worker rapist was only 16, while the majority were aged around 25.

Rape by migrant workers has been on the rise in recent years, according to He Gai, head of the Publicity Department of the People's Procuratorial Bureau in Jiangning District.

"Now is the time for society to work together and put a stop to this repeating crime," he said.

Nanjing has a reported 1 million long-term migrant workers, and a survey conducted by students from a local university this May showed that most migrant workers described their lack of sex while working in the city as "unbearable."

Wu Yiming, dean of the Sociology Department of Nanjing Normal University, said ignoring the sexual needs of migrant workers, most of whom are male, will lead to physical and psychological problems.

"Migrant workers are first and foremost human beings with normal sexual needs. Society cannot ask them to adhere to laws and regulations while suppressing and ignoring their natural demands," said Wu.

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