The son of an acclaimed Chinese military musician was given a 10 year jail sentence on Thursday, in a gang rape case that has caused uproar over the legal order and ways of the nation's aristocracy.
17-year-old Li Tianyi who, according to The Hindu, is the son of a People's Liberation Army singer named Li Shuangjiang, took a woman from a bar to a hotel with four other people who then raped and molested her in February of this year. The other suspects - three of them also juveniles - pleaded guilty. Each of them received sentences ranging from three to 12 years. Li contested the charges, Xinhua news agency reported.
"The court determined that Li was an initiator of the joint crime, as well as a main actor in the violence," the Xinhua report stated. "His status and role were clearly greater than the other accused, and he showed no remorse."
Li Shuangjiang's prominence in the PLA as a famed tenor and singer who often appears in State-run shows brought about widespread media attention on Li's case. During his initial trial last month, a slew of corruption scandals concerning party elites arose, casting even more light on the subject.
The New York Times reported that the Haidian District Court gave Li a lesser sentence than an adult who might have committed the same crime. Li's lawyer said they would appeal any guilty verdict.
The public first turned its eye on Li when he assaulted an older couple in Beijing, after he crashed his luxury sports vehicle - which was unlicensed - into their car. He was ordered to live in a juvenile home after the attack, following an enormous debate that was sparked over the questionable behavior in which Communist Party "princelings" engaged.
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