IN a fit of pique, a couple decided to jump off a building together. However, the woman fell from the sixth floor of the building and died, while the man didn’t jump.

The man was prosecuted for intentional homicide and sentenced to eight years in prison, the Shenzhen Evening News reported yesterday.

The man, identified as Ah Yin, worked at an electronics company in Bao’an District. In April 2017, he met Ah Yan, a woman his age working at a factory next to his company. The two began dating several months later.

After the Spring Festival in 2018, Ah Yin found out that Ah Yan had already been married and had a 6-year-old daughter in her hometown.

The two had a face-to-face talk at a hotel March 8. Ah Yin said he couldn’t accept the fact that Ah Yan had been married. He proposed to break up and asked for compensation.

Ah Yan was offended and said she had undergone an abortion during their relationship and that she would rather die if he insisted on settling the matter in this way. Ah Yin said that he didn’t want to go on living either.

The two went to the roof of the hotel. As the roof had railings, Ah Yan asked Ah Yin to find a footstool. The latter fetched a desk from the staircase for her.

Ah Yin climbed over the railing and made a show of jumping down. He said he didn’t expect Ah Yan would also step up on the desk and climb over the railing.

Ah Yin was shocked to see this and went to her immediately. However, Ah Yan was hanging in the air, with only her hands clinging to the railing. He grabbed Ah Yan’s hands and tried to pull her up but, after a while, he lost his strength and she fell.

According to Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court, the main cause of Ah Yan’s death was her suicidal behavior. However, Ah Yin’s behavior not only strengthened Ah Yan’s suicidal ideation to a certain extent, but also enabled her to climb over the railing, thus aiding in her suicide.

Considering that Ah Yin confessed to his crime voluntarily and showed repentance, the court sentenced him to eight years in prison. Ah Yin has lodged an appeal on the grounds of excessive sentencing.

(Zhang Yu)