The defendant Gaorongzhai put her thumbprint on the verdict Because she could not endure long-term domestic violence, Gaorongzhai from Xiangtai took advantage of her husband's deep sleep and hit his head hard with an iron rod which caused his death. 235 villagers pressed their finger prints to request a light sentence for Gaorongzhai. Yesterday, Xiangtai Intermediate People's Court made a lenient ruling for premeditated murder: 12 years in prison and political rights deprived for two years. The daughter went outside to work and was worried about her mother being beaten At 9:30 yesterday morning, the defendant Gaorongzhai's sister, younger sister, younger brother, and daughter sat in the audience waiting for the announcement of the verdict. At 10 o'clock, Judge Chen Yanqin from the first criminal court of Xiangtai Intermediate People's Court read the verdict. Gaorongzhai on the defendant's seat remained calm, but her daughter, Wang Lei Na, wiped away tears continuously. "I am 22 years old. Since I can remember, they have always been fighting. It is all over some trivial matters." Wang Lei Na introduced that she has an older brother who works in the south and could not make it back to Xiangtai in time. In her memory, her parents never got along well and often quarrelled over trivial family matters. "When we grew up a little more, they avoided us when they fought, but I could tell every time because mom would be upset." Three years before the case happened, Wang Lei Na went outside to work. "I couldn't settle down while working outside because I was afraid that mom would get beaten at home. Later, dad went out to work and I felt relieved." According to Wang Lei Na's introduction, her parents would still fight when her father came home after working outside. Unable to endure domestic violence, she hit her husband with an iron rod According to Gaorongzhai's confession, at around 12 o'clock at night on December 30, 2010, her husband Wang Zhanchao returned home. Gaorongzhai proposed going back to her mother's place to see her critically ill mother, but Wang Zhanchao did not allow it and said he would break her legs if she dared to go out. They argued until 3 o'clock in the morning on the 31st, then Wang fell asleep. Gaorongzhai was afraid that he would break her legs and then cause trouble at her mother's place, so it would be better to directly kill him and then pay with her life. Gaorongzhai took an iron rod from the yard, stood next to her husband wanting to hit him, but she hesitated. She took the iron rod out of the door and leaned it against the wall outside, then went back inside and woke her husband up, continuing to beg him to let her go back to see her mom, but Wang Zhanchao still refused and then lay down to sleep again. Gaorongzhai took the iron rod back and used all her strength to hit his head once, fearing that he might not die, she hit his head three or four more times. Afterwards, Gaorongzhai called 110 to surrender herself. Wang Zhanchao was sent to the hospital but died due to ineffective rescue. 235 villagers pressed their fingerprints to request a lighter sentence On February 9, 2011, Gaorongzhai's children and other villagers, totaling 235 people, pressed their fingerprints on the "petition", requesting lenient treatment for Gaorongzhai. Xiangtai Intermediate People's Court believed that the defendant Gaorongzhai used a weapon to injure Wang Zhanchao causing his death, which constitutes premeditated murder. This case occurred between family members, as the defendant Gaorongzhai could not endure long-term domestic violence, the victim was at fault; and after the incident, Gaorongzhai voluntarily surrendered herself, constituting self-surrender. The court adopted the opinions of the prosecutor and defense counsel for lenient punishment for the defendant.