Wang Xueying, a woman that killed her ex-husband after being continuously abused by him, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The term of imprisonment is light compared to the maximum death penalty intentional homicides carries.

After being sentenced, Wang said she did not expect the lighter punishment.

"I hope my elder daughter will study hard and take good care of the younger one," she said Wednesday.

In its judgment Wednesday, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court took into consideration the repeated abuse Wang suffered at the hands of her husband Liu Guishui.

Liu started cursing and assaulting Wang in 1999 while the couple was living in rural areas of Beijing's Fangshan District.

In September last year, Wang divorced Liu, but the two continued to live together and look after their two daughters.

One night in June this year, Liu, drunken, beat Wang with an iron spade for two hours and then fell asleep.

In retribution, Wang knocked Liu's head with an iron hammer. He died immediately.

Wang then turned herself in to police.

The court said Wang committed the crime of intentional homicide.

"But Wang was a victim of Liu's behavior and that was the cause of the homicide," the court decision said.

"Liu made mistakes that led to the crime."

Those mistakes, the court decided, were mitigating circumstances and one factor leading to a reduced sentence.

Another mitigating factor, said sources with the court, was that Wang voluntarily surrendered herself to police.

According to the Criminal Law, the crime of intentional homicide carries a sentences of death, life imprisonment or a term of imprisonment of no less than 10 years.

(China Daily October 28, 2004)