China executes Didi driver for raping, murdering passenger

Pic courtesy/The intermediate people's court of Wenzhou city

China executed a man for raping and murdering a 19-year-old female passenger who reserved a ride in his car from Didi Chuxing, the country's largest ride-hailing platform.

The man, Zhong Yuan, was executed in Zhejiang province on Friday afternoon. After his death sentence was approved by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), the Intermediate People's Court of Wenzhou city in Zhejiang announced and delivered the SPC decision to Zhong, said an SPC statement.

Zhong's execution was carried out in the presence of procuratorate officers, the statement said. In February, Zhong was convicted of robbing, raping and murdering the victim who reserved a ride in his car on August 24, 2018. He was sentenced to death.

Zhong appealed, but the provincial higher people's court upheld and submitted the death-sentence verdict to the SPC for review. After re-examination, the SPC confirmed the criminal facts, the statement said.

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