Rape victim to sue over compensation rejection

CHANGSHA - The mother of an underage rape victim in Central China's Hunan province said Saturday that she will lodge an administrative lawsuit after authorities rejected her demand for state compensation for the time she spent in a labor camp.

Tang Hui was sent to a re-education through labor center in the city of Yongzhou on August 2 last year to serve an 18-month sentence after campaigning for harsher punishments for those found guilty of raping and prostituting her then 11-year-old daughter.

The city's re-education through labor committee gave her the sentence, saying "Tang seriously disturbed social order and exerted a negative impact on society" when petitioning for justice in front of local government buildings.

The news of her detainment quickly set off a firestorm of public criticism. Tang was released eight days later, as the center said her daughter, 17 years old last year, was still a minor and required the mother's care.

The city's re-education through labor committee on Friday rejected Tang's demand for state compensation, saying her term was given in line with regulations on re-education through labor and that the decision to release her was based on humanitarian reasons.

"I thought that I could get a fair outcome nearly half a year after being released from the labor camp," Tang said.

"The rejection of my demand for state compensation hurt me for the second time," she said, adding that she will file a lawsuit with the help of her lawyer.

In October 2006, Tang's then 11-year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped and forced into prostitution. She was rescued on Dec 30, 2006.

On June 5 last year, the Hunan Provincial Higher People's Court sentenced two of the girl's kidnappers to death. Four others were given life sentences and another one received a 15-year term.

Before and after the sentences were handed down, Tang had repeatedly petitioned in front of government buildings, complaining that the local police had falsified evidence to reduce the sentences of those involved in her daughter's case.