BEIJING
The parents of a teenager wrongly convicted and executed for rape and murder in China are to receive 2.06 million yuan ($322,000) compensation, state media reported Wednesday.
Huugjilt, 18, was found guilty and raping and murdering a woman in a public toilet in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, in April 1996. He was sentenced to death and executed two months later.
In 2005, a man who allegedly raped and killed 10 women confessed to the crimes.
"It is just a number, which will not compensate my lifelong pain,”Huugjilt’s mother Shang Aiyun said, quoted by Xinhua news agency. “Money can buy things but will never buy out the pain left in our hearts."
His father Li Sanren said the family would buy a better grave site for their son.
"We cannot say we are satisfied or not with the compensation amount,” he added. “It is just spiritual consolation for us. All we have been doing was to clear my son from his wrongful conviction. Now we feel relieved."
The couple said they would like to return to normal life as soon as possible.
"The case has finally come to an end, but I find it very hard to find inner peace,” a tearful Shang said. “I remember every single detail about my son being pushed to his death. It feels like it just happened yesterday."
On Dec. 15 the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Higher People's Court overturned Huugjilt's conviction and ruled he was not guilty of rape and murder.
Feng Zhiming, the police officer in charge of Huugjilt's case, was promoted for handling the case in a timely manner. He is now under investigation.
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