NANJING: For 25-year-old migrant construction worker Chen Qiang, the dream of
marrying his ideal woman and building a house to share with her ended in July.
Apparently spurred by alcohol and pornographic films, Chen allegedly grabbed
and raped a 43-year-old woman who was passing by.
A migrant worker,
carrying a bag of his belongings, walks past a huge advertising poster.
[China Daily] |
The native of Anhui Province is now on trial at the Jiangning District
People's Procuratorial Department in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu
Province, and could face years in prison.
"Chen is not the only migrant worker to go down that path due to long-term
sexual frustration. Similar tragedies are happening again and again," Deng
Yuanhong, deputy director of the department, told China Daily.
According to Deng, since May when the weather started turning warm her
department has dealt with more than 15 cases of alleged rape and sexual
harassment by migrant workers.
People tend to be more impulsive in summer, and see-through clothes worn by
some women provoke desire, Deng said.
Deng and her colleagues are calling for more attention to be paid to the
social consequences caused by the suppressed sexual needs of migrant workers.
Figures from procuratorial bureaus in four major districts in Nanjing showed
78 cases of rape were allegedly committed by migrant workers between 2004 and
2005, accounting for 48 per cent of all such cases in the districts.
The youngest migrant worker rapist was 16, while the majority were aged
around 25.
In Chen Qiang's case, some co-workers voiced sympathy.
"Frankly speaking, most of us at times feel the same sexual desire as Chen
did. But we just work more or simply distract ourselves with other means. Chen
has committed a crime, but his situation was pathetic. He is a warning to us
all," said Zhang Jiashun, a migrant worker who used to work with Chen.
In another case, Luo Shuang, a 33-year-old married migrant worker who was
sentenced to 20 years in prison last month for raping four women, was quoted by
Nanjing Daily as saying he felt pained by his sexual frustration and regretted
his crimes.
Luo even asked for the death penalty because he was too
ashamed to see his family again.
