Chinese man cleared of schoolgirl’s rape and murder after serving 13 years of life sentence

Zhang Zhichao was convicted in 2006 of killing his fellow pupil, whose body was found in school toilet

But verdict was based on contradictory evidence, provincial high court finds after family’s long campaign

Reading Time:2 minutes

Zhang Zhichao is freed after his conviction for raping and killing a schoolgirl was overturned. Photo: Weibo

Published: 12:27pm, 14 Jan 2020Updated: 4:15pm, 17 Feb 2020

A man who served 13 years in prison for the rape and murder of a schoolgirl had his conviction overturned by a court in eastern China on Monday, mainland media reported.

Zhang Zhichao had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006 when he was a 16-year-old schoolboy for raping and killing a girl surnamed Gao, who was a fellow pupil at No 2 High School of Linmu county in Shandong.

But he was freed after the verdict by Linyi Intermediate People’s Court was overturned on Monday by Shandong High People’s Court, The Beijing News reported.

Gao went missing in January 2005 and her body was found in a boys’ toilet at the school a month later. Within days, police arrested Zhang based on allegations from two other pupils at the school, according to The Beijing News.

Zhang Zhichao is greeted by his mother after being freed by the Shandong provincial high court. Photo: Weibo

Zhang’s family filed an appeal in 2011, after Zhang was visited in prison by his mother, Ma Yuping, and told her the police had obtained his confession by torturing him, the report stated. The Linyi intermediate court rejected the appeal, as did the High People’s Court of Shandong.

But the family continued to appeal. They petitioned the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing three times in 2016 and 2017 until finally convincing it to reopen the case.