On the morning of Valentine's Day, 31-year-old Sun Wei died in his hospital bed at Longhua Hospital, and his murderer was his own father. This 178-centimeter-tall Henan man, a former soldier, was declared brain-dead after being stabbed by his father and six months later was pronounced dead. On the night of August 29th last year, after an argument with his drunken father, Sun Wei was hospitalized after being stabbed twice by his father. Currently, the police have begun to arrest Sun Wei's father, Sun, for his violent actions. However, Sun Wei's mother and several brothers are still unable to let go of their hatred towards Sun. Psychological experts claim that Sun’s behavior should bear legal responsibility, but if Sun is found to be mentally unhealthy, they call on the family to forgive the perpetrator and move past the shadow of the tragedy.
"How could he be so cruel to his own son?" said Sun Wei's third younger brother, his voice trembling. He and his siblings cannot understand or forgive what their father has done.
The tragedy shattered the family. Sun Wei's third brother said that there were five brothers in the Sun family. Sun Wei was the eldest and the most accomplished among them, having served in a Beijing military unit in his early years and later worked in Shenzhen after returning home. Before the incident, Sun Wei and his girlfriend, Ms. Liu, ran a fruit stall behind the You Song Police Station in Longhua. Their business was stable, and Ms. Liu was pregnant. They had chosen a date to register their marriage, everything seemed hopeful, but the misfortune occurred just a few days before the registration day.
Since the second son was already married, the elder Sun couple lived with their eldest son, Sun Wei, in Shenzhen. Sun Wei's third brother said, "At first (when Sun Wei was admitted), when the doctor asked my brother where he was from and his name, he could still answer. But we didn't expect that a few days later, it would be impossible." A few days later, the doctors informed them that Sun Wei had become a vegetative state patient.
On the day Sun Wei was admitted to the hospital, he was found to have been deeply stabbed in the abdomen and left upper arm, causing severe blood loss. No one knows what happened that evening, nor do they want to recall it. Sun Wei's fiancée, Ms. Liu, left the hospital after taking care of Sun Wei for two months while pregnant. The family said that Ms. Liu had an abortion on her three-month pregnancy. The 60-year-old father, Sun, also fled the house the day after the incident and remains missing.
The sons reported the case to the police, demanding their father's arrest. Yesterday afternoon outside a rental apartment in You Song, Longhua, Sun Wei's four brothers took out photos of Sun Wei in his military uniform. In the photo, Sun Wei was dressed in his military attire, looking very spirited. The brothers mentioned that in the second year of his enlistment in December 1997, a younger brother and their mother, Ms. Liao, took a train to visit Sun Wei at a military camp in Beijing, where this photo was taken.
"We (reported) to the police that day, asking them to take him (father) away, but the police never arrested him, saying it was a family matter," said Sun's younger brothers, who were quite agitated about this, believing their father deserved legal punishment. However, on the night of the incident, Sun's father was taken to the police station for investigation but was not criminally detained. Sun Wei's third brother said that the police station considered it a domestic dispute and did not pursue it further.
However, the police did not abandon their pursuit of Sun Wei's father, Sun. Last night, Bao'an police stated that upon learning of Sun Wei's death, they had confirmed the arrest of Sun Wei's father, Sun, and had already investigated and locked down the suspect's location, preparing to capture him.
Sun's father has a long history of alcoholism and domestic violence. There is no current understanding as to why Sun Wei's father was so brutal to his son, but Sun's many years of alcoholism and domestic violence are a recurring nightmare for his wife and five sons.
Ms. Liao, 53 years old, squatted by the roadside crying continuously. When talking about her husband, Sun, she pulled down her collar to show the scars on her chest. "It was all because of the alcohol that ruined our family. Once he drank, he became a completely different person, his mind was destroyed by alcohol. He beat me like this before, and the next day he wouldn't remember anything," Ms. Liao said. Her husband started drinking heavily around the age of 40, and since then, his personality changed drastically, but when sober, he was normal - "a very good person."
Not only Ms. Liao, but all five sons suffered from the harm caused by their father's alcoholism from a young age. The youngest brother said that the brothers gave up their education and went out to work early just to escape their father.
Ms. Liao, 53, currently lives with her sons and dares not say a good word about her husband in front of the children. Before leaving, her husband only left her with these words: "I'm gone, you don't have to worry about whether I'm alive or dead."
South China Morning Post reporter Li Xiaomin
■ Lawyer Opinion
Alcoholism Is Not An Excuse For Crime
"Alcoholism should not be an excuse for hurting others," said lawyer Zhong Yongjun from Guangdong Guohui Law Firm. Legal judgments on intentional injury and intentional homicide only exempt mental patients; otherwise, all fully civilly capable individuals bear the same responsibility. "If law enforcement chooses to give in to such people, it is actually indulging some individuals to cause trouble under the influence of alcohol, encouraging illegal behavior by alcoholics." Lawyer Zhong also mentioned that in previous cases of alcohol-related injuries, they were classified as intentional injury, but the court may impose slightly lighter sentences considering the state of intoxication, which does not affect the determination of intentional injury.