Enraged villagers chased and blocked two thieves who stole dogs in the middle of the night: one thief lay on the ground pretending to be dead and saved his life, while the other wielded an iron rod to confront the villagers and injured them, eventually being beaten to death by the villagers. After the incident, the police arrested three villagers who beat the thief to death on suspicion of intentional injury, and the villagers then jointly submitted a petition requesting lenient treatment for the three villagers who "upheld justice" by beating the thief to death...
Was the killing of the resisting thief by the villagers an act of upholding justice or a criminal offense? Recently, the court of Yichun's Yuanzhou District made a judgment on this controversial case, sentencing all three villagers. The judge stated that after catching the thief, they should have handed him over to the judicial authorities for handling. Beating or killing the thief resulted in their offenses being more serious than those of the thief!
The dog thief feigned death to save his life
Due to anger and confusion caused by the darkness, the villagers' memories and accounts of the incident from that night a year ago were somewhat blurred and chaotic. It was only through the police case files that the reporter was able to piece together the complete sequence of events and details.
At around midnight on June 21, 2008, Gao from Xiangdong District of Pingxiang City and Wen brought two wire locks, an iron rod for hitting dogs, poison for dogs, and a sack for carrying dogs, riding a motorcycle into Liaoshi Village, Liaoshi Township, Yuanzhou District of Yichun to steal dogs. At around 2 a.m., not far from the street on the asphalt road, they saw a dog. Wen slowed down the motorcycle, and Gao used the wire lock to try to catch the dog’s neck. The dog, with its neck caught, let out a frantic cry.
Three young men, Yi and others, who were guarding watermelons nearby quickly rode motorcycles to chase them. Yi asked Gao and Wen what they were doing, but the two did not respond and instead sped up. Seeing this, the three young men shouted, "There are dog thieves!" Several villagers holding flashlights, wooden sticks, and sickles ran out to block the path of Gao and Wen. One villager used a stick to knock their motorcycle to the ground.
After getting up from the ground, Gao and Wen ran away. Wen ran very fast and disappeared into the darkness.
Gao, who ran slower, was stopped by several villagers, and other villagers also rushed up. The group of villagers surrounded and beat Gao. Soon, Gao fell to the ground and pretended to be dead, lying motionless. Thinking Gao was dead, the villagers stopped the beating and went to chase Wen.
Once the villagers left, Gao escaped.
The other thief resisted and was beaten to death
Wen, wielding an iron rod, was finally cornered at the edge of a rice field, with no way to retreat.
More than ten villagers surrounded Wen, intending to tie him up. However, Wen swung the iron rod wildly, striking the villagers. Yi's head was hit and started bleeding, a woman surnamed Liang suffered injuries to her head and arm, and Yi Yaoxing (a pseudonym) also had his head broken. The surrounding villagers, seeing this, began to strike Wen with sticks, poles, and sickles. Yi Yaoxing, whose head was injured, suddenly lunged at Wen, grappling with him and falling into the rice field. As they fell, Wen raised the iron rod to resist, hitting Yi Yaoxing in the waist and arm. Enraged, Yi Yaoxing seized the iron rod and struck Wen, causing him to sit down in the rice field. However, Wen quickly stood up again, walking three or four meters before stopping and collapsing in the paddy field.
Three villagers walked into the rice field and dragged Wen onto the road. Dozens of villagers surrounded Wen and continued to beat him with sticks, iron rods, and sickles... The scene was chaotic, with the sound of shouting and flashlight beams mingling together.
The chaos continued until 5 a.m., when Wen lost the ability to resist and collapsed on the ground. Realizing something serious had happened, the villagers quickly called a doctor to rescue Wen, but Wen could not be saved.
Villagers detained, sparking debate over "upholding justice or committing a crime"
An autopsy determined that Wen died from multiple blunt force injuries to the torso, resulting in pulmonary contusions, hemothorax, and acute respiratory failure.
Soon after, the police launched an investigation into the case of the villagers killing the thief Wen. Subsequently, Yi and Yi Yaoxing were arrested on suspicion of intentional injury. Villager Yi voluntarily surrendered to the authorities.
The arrest of Yi and Yi Yaoxing and Yi's voluntary surrender sparked discussions among the villagers. In their view, catching thieves was an act of "upholding justice," something the government advocated. As for beating the thief, it was because the thief first attacked the villagers, and the villagers were defending themselves. And as for killing the thief, it was something no one expected. Since the thief had injured multiple villagers, the villagers were extremely angry, and due to the chaotic situation, they unintentionally killed the thief... The law does not punish the masses, so how could they really arrest people?
However, the villagers' discussions and misunderstandings did not stop the prosecution from bringing charges against the three villagers in court.
Villagers jointly petition to rescue the prosecuted villagers
Seeing that the judicial authorities were "merciless," the villagers elected several sensible individuals to launch a "rescue" operation for the three villagers who were about to be legally punished.
Step one of the rescue operation was to gain the understanding of the deceased's family. They reached a civil compensation agreement with the deceased's family and delivered a total of 45,000 yuan collected from various sources as compensation. Consequently, the deceased's family applied to the court to withdraw the civil lawsuit against the three villagers and issued a letter of understanding, hoping the court would apply probation to the three villagers.
Step two, all the villagers of Liaoshi submitted a joint application to the Standing Committee of Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress and the Yichun Municipal Government, explaining that the three villagers' killing of the thief was an act of righteous indignation, upholding justice, and excessive self-defense, and requested the court to give lenient treatment to the three villagers. The Liaoshi Township Government supported the villagers by stamping the joint application.
On the day of the trial, the courtroom was packed. For the villagers, it was a vivid and lively legal education class. The villagers understood that "killing a thief is not an act of self-defense but a criminal act," "although the thief broke the law, his right to life is equally protected by law and cannot be violated by anyone," "after catching the thief, he should be handed over to the judicial authorities for handling and not beaten."
The court ruled it as an intentional crime; the three villagers were sentenced
After deliberation by the Judicial Committee, the court made a judgment on the case of "villagers killing a thief and the corresponding responsibility": the three defendants, Yi Yaoxing, Yi, and Yi, were sentenced to four years in prison, three years in prison with four years of probation, and three years in prison with three years of probation respectively.
The villagers of Liaoshi had objections to this verdict, but the vast majority believed that the judgment "upheld the traditional virtue of upholding justice while also demonstrating the fairness and authority of the law, taking into account sentiment, reason, and law."
In an interview with reporters, Peng Weiyan, the presiding judge of the Criminal Court of Yuanzhou District People's Court, said that in recent years, there have been multiple cases of villagers killing thieves in Yuanzhou District, which clearly indicates that this is a widespread issue. Many people mistakenly believe that killing a thief constitutes self-defense and upholding justice. According to Chinese criminal law, actions taken to protect the state, public interest, oneself, or others from ongoing unlawful harm constitute self-defense. However, if the self-defense clearly exceeds the necessary limits and causes significant damage, the individual shall bear criminal responsibility.
"The three villagers from Liaoshi killing the thief falls under 'self-defense clearly exceeding the necessary limits.' When the thief was surrounded, the unlawful harm had actually ceased, so self-defense could no longer be justified. Especially when the thief fell in the rice field, he had already lost the ability to continue the unlawful harm, making further self-defense unjustifiable. Therefore, killing the thief after capturing him does not constitute self-defense but rather an intentional crime. Thus, we advise everyone that after capturing a thief, they should only be handed over to the judicial authorities for handling. Killing or injuring the thief results in crimes more severe than those of the thief, which is counterproductive."
Lenient sentencing helps promote righteousness
Regarding the verdicts for the three defendants, some believed the sentences were too lenient, as intentional injury leading to death carries a sentence of more than 10 years according to criminal law. To this, Judge Peng explained, "The reason for such sentencing is that in this case, all three defendants inflicted injuries on the victim's legs and played secondary roles in the joint crime, making them accomplices (the main perpetrator who killed the thief has not been identified by the police), and thus they should receive reduced sentences according to the law. Secondly, the relatives of the three defendants have reached a civil compensation agreement with the relatives of the victim and fulfilled it. Lastly, catching thieves is a legitimate act of upholding justice and should be protected and promoted. If the sentences were too harsh, it would undoubtedly impact this fine tradition, which would be detrimental to promoting righteousness, combating crime, and maintaining social order."
"This case is heart-wrenching. Originally, the villagers were doing good deeds by courageously catching thieves, but due to excessive behavior, an act of upholding justice turned into a criminal act," lamented Qian Ling, the defense lawyer for the case. "No one has the right to use violence against suspected thieves, even criminals have human rights. Beating or killing suspected thieves is also a crime and entails legal responsibility, leading to legal punishment. Our farmer friends should strengthen their legal education, enhance their legal awareness, and strive to know, understand, and abide by the law."
Written by Ge Xiaoyan, Zu Yumei, and reporter Li Guangming