Wang Lei (left) and Fang Yao

CHINA: SUSPENDED DEATH PENALTY FOR LESBIAN WHO MURDERED LOVER OVER GAMBLING DEBTS

July 25, 2019:

A woman has been given a suspended death sentence for murdering her lesbian ex-lover by stabbing her nearly 200 times following an argument in a Hunan hotel, DailyMail Online reported on 24 July 2019.
On 29 January 2018, the 29-year-old woman, given the pseudonym Fang Yao, chased her former girlfriend, a 26-year-old woman given the pseudonym Wang Lei, down to the lobby of the hotel in the city of Yongzhou from the 10th floor, slashing her with a knife inside the elevator.
By the time that police had arrived, Fang had fled and Wang was dead at the scene. An autopsy found that the victim had suffered 196 stab wounds.
The two had been childhood friends, coworkers at a hospital, as well as lovers. However, Wang’s father told reporters that the couple had broken up the preceding year because Fang had continued to ask his daughter to lend her money to fuel her gambling addiction.
Wang is said have lent Fang hundreds of thousands of yuan. She met Fang at the hotel after Fang promised to sign an IOU.
For Wang’s murder, Fang was given a suspended death sentence which means that her sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment as long as she does not commit any crimes in the next two years.
The sentencing was made in December but has recently made headlines as Wang’s family have publicly called instead for Fang’s execution, arguing that she deserves to die for such a violent and horrific murder.
An appeal has been filed and the family is currently awaiting a date for the second trial.