A Chinese influencer was executed by a court on Saturday for setting his ex-wife ablaze and killing her during a livestream.
According to an order by the Supreme People's court, Tang Lu was executed on Saturday following being given the death penalty for intentional homicide in October 2021.
Mr Lu and his wife Lamu divorced in June 2020 after eleven years together. Both worked as influencers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
Despite the divorce, Mr Lu repeatedly sought to restore the marriage but was rejected by Lamu, according to a previous statement from the court.
On September 14, 2020, Mr Lu went to his ex-wife's father's house, doused her in petrol and burned her alive as she on was live streaming on social media in the kitchen.
The 30-year-old woman, known online as Lhamo, died of her injuries a few weeks later.
The court said the crime was extremely cruel and Mr Lu deserved the most severe punishment.
Lamu had about 75,000 followers on Douyin where she used to share her life, showing off the Sichuan countryside and often wearing traditional Tibetan clothing in the videos.
Campaigns over Lamu's death intensified when Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a speech to a UN conference a day later saying the protection of women’s rights and interests “must become a national commitment”.
Her case then triggered heated discussions over domestic violence.
Hashtags including #LhamoAct, calling for laws allowing victims of abuse an automatic divorce, spread across the internet.
The social media star's sister told an official media outlet based in Shanghai that her sister suffered domestic abuse for years and that is why she decided to divorce him.
M Tang appealed against his death sentence but lost the appeal in January this year.
