An 18-year-old man was sentenced to 15 years in jail by Hubei Wuhan Intermediate People’s Court in June after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter that led to the death of his 19-year-old cousin last October.
It was alleged that Wang Bin had bullied Wang Yu, his younger cousin, since they were children, the Paper reported.
On October 17, 2018, Yu stabbed Bin many times with a fruit knife, before taking a photo of his body and uploading it to his WeChat account to show his friends. The incident was also witnessed by a female colleague, who had stayed temporarily in Yu’s apartment over that night and day.
Yu’s defense lawyer described the case as a family tragedy that stemmed from years of negligence. The court learned that Yu, who had dropped out from junior secondary school, was introverted and had low self-esteem after enduring all kinds of abusive behavior by Bin, who allegedly bullied his cousin for fun.
When Yu complained to his father and grandparents, they were apathetic and considered their fights just casual clashes between siblings.
Yu and Bin developed a love-and-hate relationship, thanks to the blood bond.
In June 2018, Bin reportedly invited Yu to join him working in a karaoke entertainment center in Wuhan city. But Yu continued to be mocked and bullied by his elder cousin at the center, which angered the young man, as it reminded him of his childhood nightmares.
Bin allegedly motivated other colleagues to mock Yu for fun.
That prompted Yu to buy a knife around two weeks before the incident. He warned Bin briefly that while he had been an abuser for years, he should not have encouraged others to do the same to him. However, Bin did not take Yu’s words seriously.
The court learned that Bin’s family understood Yu’s dilemma and were willing to accept his apology. That led to the Hubei Wuhan Intermediate People’s Court to hand down a lighter sentence of 15 years in jail and loss of political rights for three years.