For the wrongful execution of their son, the parents of Hugjiltu, an18-year-old ethnic Mongolian erroneously convicted in 1996 for the rape and murder of a woman, will receive 2 million yuan or about $330,000 in state compensation.

The verdict of state compensation was handed to parents Li Sanren and Shang Aiyun on Wednesday after a decision by the Higher People's Court of Inner Mongolia autonomous region. On December 15, the same court reversed Hugjiltu's conviction and pronounced he was not guilty of rape and murder.

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The exoneration came 18 years after Hugjiltu's execution.

Hugjiltu was accused of raping and choking a woman to death in the toilet of a textile factory on April 9, 1996 in the city of Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia autonomous region.  The Intermediate People's Court of Hohhot found him guilty and he was sentenced and executed in the same year.

The higher court officially acquitted Hugjiltu based on its findings that his alleged confession on how he committed the crime did not match the postmortem report on the victim. His description in the confession of his supposed victim did not even match that of the murdered woman.

The case became controversial in 2005 when alleged serial killer and rapist Zhao Zhihong admitted to killing the victim along with nine other girls and women between 1996 and 2005. Zhang was tried in 2006 but no verdict has yet been issued.

"We cannot say we are satisfied or not with the compensation amount. It is just spiritual consolation for us," said Hugjiltu's father Li. "All we have been doing was to clear my son from his wrongful conviction. Now we feel relieved."

"It is just a number, which will not compensate my lifelong pain. Money can buy things, but will never buy out the pain left in our hearts," said his mother Shang. 

TagsHugjiltu, Mongolian, 2 million yuan, Hohhot, Zhao Zihong