TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Chinese man convicted of setting fire to the murder of his ex-wife was executed in the southwestern province of Sichuan on Saturday in a domestic violence case that had sparked national outrage.
Tang Lu set his ex-wife on fire in September 2020 while she was live streaming on Douyin, the short video platform. The 30-year-old woman, known online as Lamu, died of her injuries a few weeks later.
The Intermediate People’s Court of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture said in a brief statement that it carried out Tang’s execution early Saturday.
Lamu had shared a glimpse of her life in short videos and live streams on the Chinese version of TikTok, operated by the same parent company. In her videos, she showed the Sichuan countryside and blogged about her life. She was ethnically Tibetan and often wore traditional Tibetan clothing in the videos.
Lamu’s sister had told The Paper, an official media outlet based in Shanghai, that her sister had suffered domestic violence at the hands of Tang for years and therefore decided to divorce him.
The case drew widespread condemnation and outrage across the country at the plight of women in abusive marriages. Police took the man into custody days after news of the attack broke.
Tang appealed his death sentence but lost in January.