China: Man convicted for raping another man

Beijing: In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in China, a court has convicted a man for raping his male colleague and sentenced him to one year in jail.

Zhang Hua, 42, a security guard at Haosha Sports Centre in Beijing was accused of raping 18-year-old Li Jun (name changed) on May 9 last year in the company's dormitory, inflicting minor injuries on Li.

Zhang, a native of Northeast China's Jilin province was detained after Li complained to the police, state-run 'China Daily' reported on Wednesday.

Rape, as defined by China's criminal law, refers to forcing a female to engage in sexual intercourse against her will. Consequently, Zhang's behaviour could not be legally classified as rape, the daily said in its report.

The judges who heard the case in a private session "in consideration of the victim's privacy" sentenced Zhang for one year imprisonment for causing injuries to Li.

Zhang deliberately injured another person, resulting in minor injuries to the victim, which constituted the crime of intentional injury, the court ruled.

In addition to serving his jail term, Zhang was also ordered to pay Li 20,000 yuan ($3,026) in compensation.

Although Zhang was convicted of intentional injury rather than rape, he is probably the mainland's first person sentenced for sexually assaulting a man, the report said.

"If Zhang had sexually assaulted a woman, he would be charged with rape and face a jail term of at least three years," director of the Beijing-based Zhongguangweitian Law Firm Lu Zheng said.

China University of Political Science and Law professor Hong Daode said he believed the case touched upon a flaw in the country's legal system.

"Legislators hadn't thought about the possibility that men could be rape victims or that women can also rape men," he said.

The law should be changed to include these possibilities as soon as possible, Hong said.

"The frequency of same-gender sexual assaults has continued to dramatically increase in recent years," he said.

Ministry of Health HIV/AIDS and homosexuality expert Zhang Beichuan said: Many countries' laws stipulate that males can be rape victims, so perpetrators are held criminally responsible. China's criminal law should include such definitions to properly handle such cases in the future."