A man has been sentenced to death in the central Hunan province for kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old girl whom he held captive in a hidden room under the floor of his home for over three weeks, domestic outlet Red Star News reported Monday.

In February 2019, Long Xihe, an unlicensed cab driver in Fenghuang County, kidnapped the victim after she had enlisted his services. According to a previous Red Star News report, Long held the victim captive in a concrete room accessible through a removable floor tile in his home, with an iron chain around her neck and tape over her mouth. Police arrested him 24 days later, after the girl’s family had reported her missing.

Under China’s criminal law, rape is punishable by death in certain extreme cases, such as those involving multiple victims, public settings, multiple perpetrators, or serious injury or death.

Lü Xiaoquan, a lawyer who provides legal counsel to victims of gender-based violence, told Sixth Tone that in China the death penalty is rarely invoked for rape, which is typically punished by three to 10 years in prison.

In December, the high court of Yunnan province in Southwest China upheld a lower court’s ruling that Sun Xiaoguo, a local gangster, should be put to death for the rape of two girls, among other crimes. (Image: @红星新闻 on WeChat)