Wu Changzhen Calls for Proper Penalty Measurement

The program, "Screen Links Me and You" in BTV (Beijing TV) Station, last week told such a story: A female entrepreneur in Langfang, Hebei Province, who couldn't bear the inhuman treatment by her husband and so found someone to strangle him, was sentenced to death with reprieve. After seeing the program, Wu Changzhen, a famous expert in marriage law, felt a load on her mind. When interviewed by a reporter yesterday, she seriously asked the reporter to help gather some information about the case. "The measurement is overdone. I will plead for her", said Wu.

Wu's worry stems from the harsh reality: Compared with the 1980s, cases of family violence increased by 25.4 percent in the 1990s. The rate of women's crime rose accordingly. Even in developed countries like the United States, there is 25-50 percent of the women suffering from family violence.

Personal rights and interests of women are one of the six major aspects of their rights and interests. Although these rights and interests have been written into the law, in real life, however, cases of abducting and trafficking, persecuting, discriminating against and maltreating women still occur from time to time. Cases of those who, driven beyond forbearance, violated the Criminal Law, can often be seen. Among the cases for which Wu appealed include daughters, unable endure their fathers' seduction and occupation, found somebody to beat them to death.

Wu thinks that for the criminal cases, which are committed for being unable to bear the violence and which involve not very vicious subjective intention and cause not much harm to society but evoke strong social reaction, a lighter penalty can be meted out on the merits of the case. When talking about the problem of family violence at the current CPPCC session, women members call for a speedy enactment of an operable, concrete national law with which to protect the legal rights and interests of the Chinese women.

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