Two men have been sentenced to 12 and 10 years in prison, respectively, for sexually assaulting a woman who reportedly had a history of mental illness before she went missing for more than a decade, according to a court ruling in Shanxi province on Wednesday, China Central Television reported.
The court sentenced one defendant, surnamed Zhang, to 12 years in prison for the crime of rape and child molestation. The second defendant, also surnamed Zhang, was sentenced to 10 years for rape, the report said.
Both defendants said in court that they would not appeal the verdicts.
The case attracted widespread attention online in 2024, when the woman, surnamed Bu, a master's degree holder, was identified by the local police after being missing for more than 10 years. She was found living with a third man, surnamed Zhang, with whom she had two children, the report said.
Meanwhile, the two defendants, who were residents of the same village as the third man, were found to have sexually assaulted Bu, according to the report.
