China sentences to death driver who killed passenger of ride-hailing firm Didi

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Didi Chuxing is seen at a Didi station in Beijing, China January 2, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) – A court in China handed the death sentence on Friday to a man who raped and killed a passenger of ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing last year, while he was employed as a driver.

The court in the eastern coastal city of Wenzhou, where the driver, Zhong Yuan, 28, committed the crime in August, said in a post on its Twitter-like Weibo account it had ordered the death penalty.

The high-profile case triggered fierce public and government criticism of Didi, which suspended its carpool service Hitch after the incident and pledged a business overhaul to put a greater emphasis on safety.

Didi said it has no comment on the court sentence.

Reporting by Yilei Sun in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
source: reuters.com