Yang Guangyi
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Yang Guangyi (died February 2, 2021) was a Chinese murderer and convicted rapist. Yang was found guilty in the "Passion Fruit Girl case", after he abducted a young girl named Yang Xiaoyan (no relation) and raped her before stabbing her and taking her money. For committing this violent offence, Yang was sentenced to death and executed on February 2, 2021.
Murder of Yang Xiaoyan edit
On October 4, 2018, Yang encountered the ten-year-old Xiaoyan selling passion fruit to a local vendor for thirty-two yuan. She came from an impoverished family and so was allowed to go out alone so she could make money. In his confession, Yang claimed that he followed her some of the way home before attacking her and choking her unconscious. He then put her in a carrier bag and carried her to a nearby hill, where he raped Xiaoyan at knifepoint. Yang then stabbed Xiaoyan in her eyes and neck, took her money and abandoned her to die of her injuries. The case sparked outrage across China, and Yang turned himself in two days after the murder.
At his trial in July 2019, Yang was convicted of rape and sentenced to death by the Qinzhou Intermediate People’s Court. Refusing to accept the verdict, he launched an appeal claiming that his sentence was unfair. The High People's Court accepted his appeal and gave him a two-year reprieve. Xiaoyan's mother objected to this and herself appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ordered the High Court to review its decision.
In December 2020, the High Court ruled that its previous ruling was wrong and that the brutality of Yang's "cruel and violent" offence meant he could not receive lenient punishment. Yang was executed on February 2, 2021. Just before his execution, he refused to see his family one last time.