A madam who forced hundreds of women into prostitution has been executed in China. Wang Ziqi was sentenced to death for luring young women to work in brothels which were disguised as tea houses, beauty salons or hotels. More than women were victims between and of the gang she led, with seven dying in mysterious circumstances, according to Chinese news reports.
Syndicate: Wang Ziqi, centre, was executed after being convicted of forcing hundreds of women into prostitution in the Chinese city of Chongqing, along with associate Gu Mingtao. They were forced to work even when they had their period or had had forced abortions. If they refused, they were beaten and put in a dark room for days without food. The gang also arranged for people to teach the women the 'skills' of prostitution. She was pictured along with associate Gu Mingtao, dressed in thickly padded pajamas, their hands cuffed, in court as their death sentences were upheld.
In , one of her victims was left paralysed after she jumped from the eighth floor of a tea house. Yet she was still kept locked up until she was finally released by police in She would then often wake up in the night, strip naked and walk out. A psychiatrist said her behaviour was the result of being locked up and terrified for a long time.
Wang Wanning fled the country after her sister's arrest, but was caught and extradited back to China in April. It is unclear if she has been put on trial. A Filipino drug trafficker was also put to death yesterday, despite a plea for clemency from the Philippine president.
Empire: Wang ran a crime syndicate in Chongqing which lured women to tea houses, hotels and beauty salons before forcing them into prostitution. Hours before he was executed, the unnamed man was allowed briefly to meet two siblings and two cousins who travelled to south China's Guangxi province. He was then led to a courtroom, where the sentence was read and he was taken to the death chamber in Liuzhou, two hours from the prison, where he was given a lethal injection.
