BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced to death a man who killed two government workers and injured four other people in an argument related to the one-child policy, China’s official news agency reported.
In addition, He Shenguo was ordered to pay 280,000 yuan ($45,000) in compensation after he was convicted of intentional homicide by the court in southern Guangxi region, Xinhua reported. Calls to Fangchenggang Intermediate People’s Court rang unanswered.
He slashed people at a family planning office after it refused to register his fourth child because he hadn’t paid a fee levied on parents who break family planning rules.
Two clerks died on the scene while four other people, including a passing lawyer, were injured, Xinhua said.
Footage of police trying to subdue the man while he brandished a machete last July was widely shared on social media. Many comments at the time voiced sympathy for him and opposition to China’s family planning limits.
Although often known as the “one-child policy,” China’s family planning laws allow some couples, particularly in rural areas, to have more than one child. Late last year, the government slightly relaxed the policy to allow more people to have two children.
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