THE city procuratorate will appeal a suspended three-year jail term imposed on a man who unplugged the life support for his comatose wife, saying that the penalty was unbelievably light.
Wen Yuzhang, 37, was sentenced to three years in prison with a three-year suspension by the Shenzhen Intermediate People s Court on Dec. 9 for mercy killing Hu Jing who had been in a coma for a week.
Wen said he loved his wife so much and just wanted to let her die peacefully and with dignity.
Hu s mother, Xiao Guilian, appealed to the city procuratorate Dec. 14, asking the prosecutor to take the case to the Guangdong Provincial Higher People s Court, the Daily Sunshine said yesterday.
The procuratorate made the decision to appeal after reassessing Xiao s appeal, which said the sentence of three years was an injustice for a killing and the suspension inappropriate.
After collapsing at home, Hu was rushed to hospital Feb. 9, 2009. Seven days later, the hospital decided to place her on life support.
On Feb. 16, Wen went to see his wife in hospital where he learned that her condition was unlikely to improve. He cried for some time before he unplugged the life support system. He prevented doctors and nurses from giving emergency treatment, insisting the patient was suffering too much.
Hu died at 4 a.m. that day. Investigations showed Hu could not live without life support. Wen was arrested on a charge of homicide Feb. 18, 2009.
Death is defined by the heart beat stopping in China. Technically, Hu was still alive before her life support was unplugged. That was a killing, said a consultant of the procuratorate, who was identified only as Zhuang.
Wen s family accepted the court verdict, saying it was a result with which Hu would be satisfied. Wen agreed to pay 1.28 million yuan (US$188,000) in compensation demanded by Xiao. Xiao said the compensation couldn t bring back the life of her daughter.
Wen and Hu graduated from a law school in Hubei Province and were well-off with a daughter and son.
The case caused a debate on euthanasia, an issue in which people have strong opinions about mercy killings when a person is suffering from a terminal illness or is brain dead. (SD News)
