THE Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) said yesterday that it has dispatched personnel to East China’s Shandong Province to examine a high-profile case now being appealed, in which a man was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a debt collector who sexually assaulted his mother, the Global Times reported.

    Over the weekend, Chinese media and online forums were filled with news about the case, which sparked a huge controversy over whether the defendant’s actions were legitimate self-defense after he witnessed his mother being humiliated in an extreme way by debt collectors for nearly one hour, as well as whether the police were guilty of negligence after being called to the scene before the attack.

    Yu Huan, 22, from Guanxian County in the city of Liaocheng, was sentenced to life in prison in February by a local court for intentional harm after he stabbed four of his mother’s creditors with a knife, one of whom died later in the hospital, after they abused and humiliated his mother while demanding she repay her debt April 14 last year, news portal thepaper.cn reported Saturday. During the torture, they hurled insults at his mother, slapped her in the face and sexually assaulted her, according to the report.

    The SPP said that it would review all of the evidence, hear reports from the provincial court, and examine whether Yu’s actions meet the definition of “justifiable defense,” “excessive defense” or “intentional injury.” It will also examine whether the local police were negligent.

    The Higher People’s Court of Shandong Province also said on its official Weibo account yesterday that it had accepted Yu’s appeal Friday and set up a collegiate panel to review case files and hear the appeal according to legal procedures.

    Yu’s attorney, Yin Liqing, filed the appeal Feb. 24 and said that he would also sue the local police for failing to carry out their duties while they were at the scene, which Yin says led to the killing. He also said that during the retrial he would apply for a forensic psychiatric assessment for his client.

    According to the verdict by the Liaocheng Intermediate People’s Court, Yu’s mother borrowed 1.35 million yuan (US$198,000) from Zhao Rongrong in July 2014, with a verbal agreement to pay 10-percent monthly interest. In April last year, Zhao sent 11 of his henchmen to Yu’s office to demand repayment, including the man who was killed, Du Zhihao.

    The local police were called to Yu’s office by his uncle at 10:13 p.m., but after questioning the quarreling parties for a few minutes, they left without detaining anyone. The dispute then escalated, ending with Yu attacking the loan sharks.

    (SD-Agencies)