Leader of underground prostitution ring executed in China

Chongqing - According to Chinese media, Wang Ziqi, the female leader of an underground prostitution ring in the city of Chongqing, south-west China, was executed today.

Ziqi, who was convicted of leading the criminal organization, was sentenced to death in August 2010 after pressuring hundreds of women into prostitution. Her sister, Wang Wanning, was also involved in the ring, helping Wang seize women’s identity cards, confiscate their earnings and detain them illegally. With more than 300 'employees' from 1994 to 2009, the gang operated brothels in tea-houses, beauty salons and hotels. Many of the women were made to work after having undergone forced abortions, otherwise they would have been beaten or locked up in a dark room for days without food. Seven women died in suspicious circumstances, while one was left paralyzed after jumping from the eighth floor of a tea-house in 2003. Despite her condition, the gang kept her locked up until police found her in September 2009. Since a city campaign to shatter corruption and criminal gangs started in 2009, many Chongqing gang members have been sentenced to death.