Battling against all odds, a mother of a Chinese rape victim has won a rare law suit against the officials for condemning her to the dreaded labour camp to silence her from demanding justice.
The Hunan Provincial Higher People's Court today ordered the Yongzhou municipal re-education through labour commission to pay Tang Hui 2,941 yuan (USD 478) in compensation for infringing upon her personal freedom and causing mental damages, Xinhua news agency reported.
The 40-year-old mother appealed to the higher people's court in April after the Yongzhou Intermediate People's Court denied her request for an apology and compensation from the re-education through labour commission, which were stated to be prison camps officially stated as re-education camps by the ruling Communist Party of China.
Tang was put into the labour camp after she publicly petitioned for harsher punishments for those found guilty of raping her daughter and forcing her into prostitution.
Tang said she was relatively "satisfied" with the result but regretted that her demand for a written apology was refused.
The court said the re-education through labour commission claimed to have already expressed an apology during the second trial on July 2.
"I have found these past few days very tiring. Now, I just want to let all this go from my mind and have a good rest, not caring about anything else," Tang said after the sentence.
Jiang Jianxiang, a legal representative for the re-education through labour commission in Yongzhou, said it would obey the verdict and hoped Tang could resume her normal life.
In October 2006, Tang's then 11-year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped and forced into prostitution. She was rescued on December 30, 2006.
On June 5, 2012, the Hunan Provincial Higher People's Court sentenced two of the girl's kidnappers to death. Four others were given life sentences and another one received a 15-year prison term. Tang insisted on harsher punishments for all those found guilty.
She was put in a labour camp in Yongzhou for "seriously disturbing social order and exerting a negative impact on society" after protesting in front of local government buildings on Aug 2, 2012.
She was sentenced to 18 months in the camp, but was released eight days later amid a public outcry urging her release.
