A HONG KONG man who was given a death sentence for raping and sexually assaulting nine underaged girls in Shenzhen is on trial again following an appeal against his sentence to the Guangdong Provincial Higher People s Court.
Man Kin-mun, 30, was given the death sentence by the Shenzhen Intermediate People s Court last year for molesting nine children between the ages of 11 and 12 in Luohu and Futian districts from April 12, 2007 to April 17, 2008. Six of the nine children were raped, media reports said.
The retrial was closed to the public and media on the consideration that it involved at least nine minors, the Southern Metropolis Daily said Friday.
The paper quoted the father of one of the victims as saying that Man admitted to all the rape charges in the courtroom. But he avoided eye contact with me and the parents of other victims in the courtroom, said Feng Zheng, whose 13-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by Man and attended Thursday s retrial.
Honestly, I want the retrial to uphold the death penalty, Feng said. He deserves it. He devastated nine families and almost ruined the future of nine young girls. Man was caught by Feng as he was trying to rape Feng s daughter after following her home after school April 17, 2008.
Man was dubbed the Crazy Tuen Mun rapist by Shenzhen media.
The Daily said Man committed his first rape in Shenzhen six months after he was released from jail in Hong Kong in 2006, after being jailed in 1997 and again in 2000 for molesting women.
A former neighbor from Tuen Mun described Man as a good guy who was very polite and greeted neighbors with a smile.
Sources said Man committed his crimes at midday or in the evening when students came back home from school. He chose his victims on buses or streets, followed them home and attacked them from behind, dragging them to the roof of their apartment building or a nearby deserted area.
Man told prosecutors he chose teenagers because they were weaker than adults and easier to handle.
The retrial continues.
(Claudia Wei)
