BEIJING (AFP) - – A court in central China has sentenced to
death a 40-year-old man who kidnapped two teenage girls, beating
and raping them for months while they were held in an underground
cell, according to state media.
Zeng Qiangbao, who worked in a steel factory in Wuhan, the
capital of Hubei province, was convicted on Sunday of rape, illegal
imprisonment, robbery and forcible seizure, the China Daily
reported.
One girl, who was 16 when she was abducted, was held for nearly
two years, while the other, 19 at the time, was imprisoned for 10
months, the report said.
"Zeng, who devastated the physical and psychological health of
the girls and exerted an extremely negative influence on society,
should be severely punished," the court said in its verdict.
Zeng has vowed to appeal against the death sentence and said he
would ask for a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he
could be held responsible for his actions.
In September 2008, Zeng kidnapped the 16-year-old girl. He
abducted the second in July 2009.
The pair were found in May 2010, naked except for shackles on
their feet, in a secret dungeon Zeng had built under his home,
after they smuggled out a plea for help with a map and the phone
number of one of the girls' parents.
The girls had smuggled out such notes on many occasions, usually
hidden in the rubbish of the instant noodles that they were fed by
Zeng.
The home of the 19-year-old, surnamed Zhou, was just 200 metres
(yards) from where she was held.
Zeng was also convicted of raping nine other women between July
2007 and May 2010.
The case recalled a number of other shocking tales of sex
slavery and secret underground dungeons that have made headlines in
recent years.
Austria's Josef Fritzl, who held his daughter Elisabeth as a sex
slave in a cramped windowless dungeon for 24 years, was jailed for
life on rape and murder charges in March 2009.
Also in Austria, Natascha Kampusch was kidnapped at the age of
10 and held captive in a tiny cellar for eight and a half years
until she escaped in August 2006. She was severely beaten but has
never confirmed any sexual abuse.
