Thaindian News

Beijing, Apr 19 (ANI): A 46-year-old Chinese farmer, who was sentenced to death in December for raping 116 women, has appealed against his conviction.

Dai Qingcheng from East China’s Anhui province, was found guilty at his first trial for raping, or attempting to rape 116 women and robbing 91 of them.

The date on which his appeal will be heard is yet to be made public, but has been scheduled, according to the Higher People’s Court of Anhui.

Police began their search for Qingcheng in July 2008 after a 49-year-old woman from Dai’s hometown Linquan county, reported that a masked man with a knife had forced his way into her home and attempted to rape her.

Police investigating the case soon found that such incidents were “not rare” in the area and discovered that many villagers from Linquan county in Anhui, and nearby Shenqiu county in Henan province had been attacked.

Many people were shocked when Dai was identified as the main suspect because he looked like an unlikely attacker.

“He is kind of short, introverted and honest-looking and I wouldn’t relate him to such atrocities by his appearance,” the China Daily quoted Ming Tian, Dai’s lawyer, as saying.

“He doesn’t communicate with people much but he treats his family well and most villagers thought he was a simple and honest guy,” Tian added.

Many of Dai’s victims were said to be the wives of migrant workers who were away when the attacks happened.

“We were surprised when he told us he had raped about 100 women,” said Yang Yongkui, a police officer from Linquan police bureau, as saying.

“The victims he violated ranged from very young girls to women in their 50s and one of them was six-months pregnant,” said Yongkui.

One issue that emerged during the investigation is the fact that most of his victims chose to remain silent after they were violated. Many denied initially that they had been raped when the police approached them. (ANI)