Man accused of hugging woman marries victim

Man accused of hugging woman marries victim

Police finally arrested a fugitive, 28 years after he ran away after hugging a woman hugging, only to find that he had married his victim.

The fugitive, Chen Zonghao, was arrested in South China's Hainan province on Oct 3.

He was wanted on a charge of hooliganism for hugging a woman against her will in the 1980s.

Chen ran away after he hugged his colleague without her consent and the woman's parents reported the incident to the police.

The woman went to search for Chen and in the end married him one year after the incident.

They now have two sons and a daughter and run a wholesale store in Guangdong.

Hooliganism, which carries the death sentence, is a charge that no longer exists in China. It was deleted from the Criminal Law when it was revised in 1997.

"Although the charge doesn't exist now, the police still had a responsibility to arrest the criminal and close the case," a police media officer, who declined to be named, said.

"But we have to consider the special circumstances, since the victim has married her assailant and said she doesn't want her husband to go to prison," he said. China Daily

Published Oct 14, 2011