Beijing: A jilted Chinese man, who burnt down the house of his girlfriend resulting in the death of 12 people earlier this year, was sentenced to death by a Chinese court.
The Intermediate People`s Court of Nanping, in Fujian province, convicted Liu Quanshun, 46, of arson and ordered him to pay four million yuan (USD 629,921) in compensation, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
According to court findings, Liu met his girlfriend surnamed Li, who was already married to another man.
After their meeting at a casino in Nanping in 2009, Li left her family and eloped with Liu.
However, she slapped a rape case against Liu when her father and husband traced her whereabouts and confronted the couple.
Subsequently Liu tried to blackmail Li’s family and when his demands were not met he poured fuel on their house and set it ablaze in January this year.
Besides Li`s parents and 10 of the family`s neighbours died in the ensuing blaze.
Liu was subsequently arrested.
PTI