Jiang Qiulian, mother of the victim, Jiang Ge Photo: VCG

The mother of a Chinese student murdered in Japan won a lawsuit against her daughter's former roommate on Monday, as the court ruled that the roommate should bear responsibility as she locked the victim outside the apartment when the victim was being attacked by the roommate's stalker ex-boyfriend. 

The roommate, named Liu Nuanxi, whose former name was Liu Xin, was ordered by a court in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province to compensate the plaintiff Jiang Qiulian, mother of the victim, Jiang Ge, a total of 696,000 yuan ($109,193), consisting of financial losses of 496,000 yuan and emotional damage compensation of 200,000 yuan. 

The court said that Liu should bear the corresponding civil liability of compensation for her obvious fault of failing to inform Jiang Ge of the danger of her ex-boyfriend and locking Jiang Ge outside of the apartment as Jiang Ge was being stabbed by the Liu's ex-boyfriend to death. The court ruling debunked Liu's previous excuses that "she was unable to open the door lock" and other lies. The court said Liu ignored Jiang Ge's safety and locked her outside so that Liu can "protect herself."

Also, the court said Liu made provocative remarks after the tragedy and further hurt Jiang Ge's mother's feelings, thus she should bear the liability of compensation for mental damage. 

Liu has been ordered to compensate Jiang Qiulian within 10 days if neither party appeals to a higher court, the ruling said.

The mother said on Monday that she wants to tell her deceased daughter the court ruling and that "Mama has finally made it."

Jiang Ge was stabbed to death by Liu's ex-boyfriend Chen Shifeng outside Jiang's apartment in Tokyo on November 3, 2016. 

Chen was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment on charges of manslaughter and intimidation by the local court in Tokyo on December 20, 2017. 

More than two months before the murder, Liu moved into Jiang's apartment to escape Chen's persistent badgering. 

Jiang suggested that Liu report Chen to the police, but was dissuaded, according to media reports. Liu also concealed from Jiang the potential danger posed by Chen, who had stalked her and sent threatening messages. 

The mother believes Liu was also responsible for her daughter's death because she locked Jiang out of the apartment. The mother was also upset about some inappropriate posts Liu made about her daughter on Sina Weibo.

The mother launched a lawsuit against Liu in October 2018, seeking compensation of 2.07 million yuan for Jiang's death, other economic losses and emotional damages. 

Many netizens gave a thumbs-up for the court ruling on Monday and commented that what matters most is that the law acknowledged that Liu should be held accountable for her fault.

The People's Daily commented that Jiang Ge finally won legal support for her selflessness in saving people while Liu paid a legal price for her actions. The praise and the reproach showed the temperature of the rule of law and fit public order and good customs, the media outlet said.

Many netizens said that Liu owed an open apology to Jiang Ge and her mother.

Global Times