BEIJING - A local Chinese court will allow a television station to broadcast the trial of a man accused of murdering 10 people at a Taoist temple which begins next Thursday.

Qiu Xinghua, a 47-year old farmer, is charged with murdering the temple abbot, five staff and four pilgrims at the Tiewadian temple in Ankang in Shaanxi Province, local prosecutors said.

Qiu was reported to have quarreled with temple staff as he thought the abbot had flirted with his wife. He's accused for stabbing the victims to death as they slept on the night of July 14th.

After a nation-wide manhunt, Qiu was arrested in mid August. National and local media have provided extensive coverage of the Qiu's case, a rarity in China.

Qui's trial begins at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Ankang Railway Transportation Court in Ankang city of the northwestern province of Shaanxi, the Beijing News reported Saturday.

The trial will be fully covered by Ankang Television Station, the paper said.

Previous media reports portrayed Qiu as a farmer with serious psychological problems and asked the public to be more caring and sympathetic to farmers living in poor villages.