Penalty for man with HIV who raped girl draws scrutiny

Recently a man with HIV was sentenced to five years for raping a 15-year-old girl in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which attracted the attention of the public.

The court of Du'an county in Hechi, Guangxi, announced the verdict for Yuan Zhilei, 47, a native of Du'an, on Sept 25.

It was said that last May, Yuan raped a girl surnamed Lan who was found suffering from mental retardation and lacked the ability to defend herself.

Many people thought the current punishment was too light for a rapist who definitely knew of his contagious disease before conducting the act of rape.

According to local authorities, Yuan confessed to his crime to the police and volunteered to receive the penalty.

Hechi intermediate people's court, the municipal court, has launched a judicial review of the case and said it will release the result soon.