Photo: VCG

Two teachers at a primary school in Central China's Hunan Province were sentenced to death and 17 years in prison respectively for raping nine underage girls, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) released the case at a press conference on Monday.

Two principals at the involved school were also prosecuted for criminal responsibility for concealing the crimes of the two teachers, according to a report published on Monday by the Procuratorial Daily on its website, jcrb.com.

The school authorities violated the mandatory reporting mechanism of Chinese schools on bullying and sexual harassment, the report said. Neither conducting investigations nor reporting to the police, the two principals disregarded the information they received letting the rapists continue their crimes, it added.

One of the two accused surnamed Yang raped nine underage girls by luring, inducement and coercion between 2001 and April 2020, when he was a teacher at two primary schools in Luxi county in Hunan. The nine victims were Yang's relatives or students, eight of whom were under the age of 14.

Yang and the other offender, surnamed Mi, raped a 12-year-old female student by taking turns, said jcrb.com. They had also sexually harassed several underage students at classrooms and offices, among other places.

Local police started an investigation after two of the victims reported the case in May 2020. Yang and Mi were sentenced in August 2020 to death and 17 years in prison respectively for rape and child molestation, according to the website.