In a landmark decision that activists hailed as a major step forward in China's rule of law on domestic violence, Chinese Supreme People's Court overturned a death sentence of a woman who killed and dismembered her abusive husband. The high court sent back the case on Tuesday to be reheard.

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According to Guo Jianmei, Li Yan's lawyer who specializes in women's rights, the outcome of the retrial is unpredictable. It is highly likely that Li would be handed another death sentence.

Guo, however, explains that the supreme court's decision will have a significant effect on future lawsuits of similar nature, as it is the first high court ruling in China that overturned capital punishment for the murder of a domestic abuser.

The high-profile case highlighted the plight of victims of domestic abuse in China. International groups, activists and lawyers from across the country jumped to Li's defense when her death sentence came out in 2011. It elicited much public sympathy, resulting in Li's appeal of her execution on grounds of self-defense, which was denied by a Sichuan lower court.

Li's supporters said that the two Sichuan lower courts involved in her case neither sought sufficient evidence nor admitted enough meaningful evidence to support the angle of domestic abuse.

Li was sentenced to death in 2011 for killing her abusive husband, Tan Yong, in a fight where Tan reportedly threatened to shoot Li with an air rifle. Li beat her husband to death and dismembered his body which, according to media reports, she boiled in an attempt to dispose off evidence.

This followed a pattern of physical, sexual and verbal abuse that began shortly after they got married in 2009, said Li Dehuai, Li's brother, in an interview with The New York Times.

John Kamm, director of Dui Hua, a rights group in China said that this supreme court ruling has far-reaching implications. In a male dominated Chinese society, women now have a standing before the law on the issue of domestic violence.

TagsLi Yan, Death Sentence, Chinese Supreme People's Court, China domestic violence, women's rights