A BUSINESSMAN from Macao has received a jail term of 18 months with a two-year suspension from a Guangdong court for causing a woman to drown in what he claimed was a joke.

    The Zengcheng People’s Court said it granted leniency to the man, identified only as He, who owns two real estate companies in Foshan City, because he had paid HK$4.75 million (US$613,000) to the victim’s family in compensation and has “gained their understanding,” Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.

    He, 35, a member of the advisory body of Foshan, grabbed a woman in her 20s, whom he did not know, while she was playing on a floating platform and jumped into a reservoir as a “joke” last October.

    Yet the woman did not know how to swim and when He did not see her come up to the surface, he asked friends to help look for her. They later recovered her body.

    He turned himself in to police, the newspaper said.

    During the trial, He said his actions were meant to be funny. He apologized to the victim’s family and was reported to have said in court that “he could have never imagined that his joke would have caused the death of a young girl.”

    The court ruled that because He voluntarily went to the police and expressed remorse, the penalty could be reduced, the report said.

    (SD-Agencies)