A man who strangled a 75-year-old woman and then made it look like she had been raped has been sentenced to life imprisonment, Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court said yesterday.

The 23-year-old escaped a death sentence because he suffered from depression at the time and was deemed to have limited criminal liability, the court said.

It said the man, surnamed Yu, had argued with the woman when she asked him to get out of her way on a riverbank path in Jiading District on November 5 last year.

Getting angry because he thought she was shouting abuse at him, the court said, he took a rope from the bag of garden tools she was carrying and strangled her.

He then dragged her body to nearby woods and faked a rape scene, the court said, without giving further explanation.

When Sun's children realized that she was missing they contacted the police.

DNA from the rope and a discarded cigarette identified Yu as having been at the scene and he confessed to murder when he appeared in court.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)