A Taiwan district court has handed down a death sentence to the head of a group of human traffickers involved in the drowning of four women. The women died off the coast of the island in August after the men forced them to jump off a boat.

Four men went on trial for the deaths and pleaded guilty to the charges. The Miaoli district court has sentenced the head of the gang, Wang Zhongxing, to be put to death. Prosecutors had also asked for the same sentence to be given to another member of the gang, Ke Qingsong.

But the court decided to give him life imprisonment instead, saying he cooperated with the investigation. Two accomplices in the gang, Ye Tiansheng and Zeng Jiongming will have to spend 3 and 2 years in prison respectively. The court has also ordered them to pay a heavy fine. Each of them has to pay around 700,000 yuan (US$84,674).

The case has been the subject of extensive media coverage on Taiwan. Cross-strait human trafficking has become more frequent in recent years and polls suggest the Taiwan public thinks the case is a good chance to push for a bigger crackdown on the crime.

Three months ago, the four men tried to smuggle 26 mainland women to the island. They forced the women to jump overboard when the Taiwan coast guard gave chase. Six of the women drowned and two of the victims are still unidentified.

The 20 young women who survived the incident are still staying in Taiwan. Police say they will transfer them to a harbor city in the east of the island and make arrangements for their families to meet them there. Their lawyers say they can not raise the issue of compensation for the women because the dossier they acquired is not complete. They will raise the issue during the case's second trial.

(CCTV.com November 25, 2003)