A Shanghai man was sentenced to three years in prison for raping his wife, though he will be allowed to serve his entire sentence under probation, the Pudong New Area People’s Court announced Friday.
The court found that the defendant, whom it gave the alias “Sun Jianjun,” forced his wife to have sex with him under the threat of violence and dismissed the defense lawyer’s argument that Sun did not commit a crime because the couple was married.
Nonetheless, the court will allow Sun to serve the sentence on probation because he showed remorse for his crime, according to the court.
Sun and his wife, whom the court called “Jin Xiaoyan,” also an alias, got married three years ago, but only because Jin’s father forced her so the family could get more money when the government relocated them from their home, according to the court.
The government typically pays relocation compensation based on the size of the family, so the more people in the family, the more money they receive.
Jin did not love Sun, however. The couple never lived together after they were married, according to the court. A month into their marriage, Jin asked for a divorce, telling Sun that she only married him for the extra relocation money. Jin refused to grant the divorce, feeling that he had been lied to.
In November 2009, Sun relented after Jin gave him 17,000 yuan ($2,641) for furniture he had bought for the family. However, Sun later reconsidered, figuring that he should get part of the relocation money, as well as 3,000 yuan he believed Jin still owed him, according to the court.
Apparently, Jin agreed to his demands and on March 17, 2010, she filed for divorce, according to the court. However, the court rejected the request because it thought the couple could still be reconciled.
On June 14, Sun forced Jin to go to his home, where he threatened, beat and raped her, the court said. He was arrested the next morning after neighbors reported the disturbance to police. Sun will remain on probation for three years, but will avoid prison time if he stays out of trouble for the duration.
Global Times