The driver who plowed into a crowd last month in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, killing 35 people and injuring at least 43, was sentenced to death this Friday (27), Xinhua news agency reported.
On November 11, Fan Weiqiu, 62, dissatisfied with the division of assets in his divorce, “deliberately drove into the crowd to vent his anger,” the court that sentenced him said.
Fan’s vehicle hit people who were exercising in front of a sports center. The man was arrested after trying to kill himself with a knife, police said at the time.
During the public trial, the defendant admitted his guilt before the victims’ families.
The court declared that the defendant’s motives “were extremely vile, the nature of the crime particularly heinous, and the consequences especially grave, representing significant harm to society.”
According to the court, Fan Weiqiu “decided to take out his indignation” over “his broken marriage and his personal frustrations,” Chinese state television CCTV said.
China has suffered multiple casualty incidents this year, from stabbings to run-overs, casting doubt on its reputation for public safety.
Analysts linked the increase in incidents to growing dissatisfaction and despair caused by the slowdown in the national economy and stratification of Chinese society.
Another driver who on November 19 ran over students at a school in Changde, southern China, received a death sentence with a two-year suspension period, according to CCTV. In other words, depending on the man’s behavior during this period, his sentence may be reduced.
