The case went viral on Chinese social media as commentators asked how such a punishment made sense when sexual assault cases often draw lighter sentences.
BEIJING — A Chinese court’s 10-year jail term for an author of a homoerotic book found guilty of profiting from selling “obscene” literature has been met with disbelief among some internet users who question how the crime could warrant so severe a punishment.
The female author, surnamed Liu, was found guilty on Oct. 31 by Wuhu county court in eastern Anhui province after she self-published a book that “obscenely and in detail described gay male-male acts”, according to state media.
The court ruled that the strict sentence was enforced due to her having made 150,000 yuan ($21,600) by selling over 7,000 copies, the article said.
The case went viral on Chinese social media at the weekend as commentators asked how such a punishment made sense when some sexual assault cases often drew lighter sentences.
One user shared an article about a case from 2010 when a man was jailed for 18 months for imprisoning children and commented: “I don’t understand the law, but there have been people who did things as inhuman as this and only get a year and a half.
