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Man charged with raping daughters

By Chen Hong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-02 07:42

SHENZHEN - A father of five in this southern city has been charged with raping his two teenage daughters since 2002.

The 40-year-old man tried to commit suicide after one of his daughters called the police in February. He said he did not realize the gravity of his crime and asked the government to "give him a chance', the Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Tuesday.

Hearing of the case at Bao'an district court in Shenzhen began on Monday.

The daughter who reported to the police was blamed by the mother and other family members for bringing the man to court. She is now wondering whether the decision was a right one because of her "father's great financial contribution to the family", the newspaper said.

The public prosecutor at the closed hearing said the father originated from Gaozhou, Guangdong province and began working in Shenzhen in 1990. He raped his first daughter in early 2002, when she was only 13 years old.

Two years later, he asked his 15-year-old second daughter, who had just graduated from primary school, to come to Shenzhen.

He raped her a year later. The sisters were threatened "with death" if they told their mother. However, when the sisters sought help from their mother October, she claimed she could do nothing about it, as their father always made the final decision in family matters.

The second daughter, who was locked up at home by her father in February, managed to escape and called the police.

The man confessed his crime, and told police he was not mentally unbalanced.

Lawyers said the father could be sentenced to death given the severity of the crime.

"The father deserves severe punishment because his two daughters were underage when they were raped. According to the law, he could get at least 10 years' imprisonment, life or even death," Yuan Zhonggang, a lawyer at Shenzhen Commercial Law Co, told China Daily on Tuesday.

Lei Mingguang, a law professor with the Central University for Nationalities and a member of China Marriage Law Association, said the rare incestuous case was a reminder to Chinese families to protect girls at home since homes were not always safe.

"Severe punishment should be meted out to stop such family tragedies.

Family members, especially mothers, should pay more attention to the protection and education of their daughters while the daughters should be made more aware of their rights," Lei said.