A former high school teacher has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of raping and forcibly molesting a female student, a court in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region said on Monday.

The Youjiang District People's Court in Baise delivered the first-instance verdict following a public hearing earlier in the day, finding Tang Yuwen guilty on multiple charges.

According to the judgment, Tang was sentenced to 15 years in prison for rape and five years for forcible molestation. The sentences were combined into a single 18-year jail term, along with a five-year deprivation of political rights.

The court also ruled that Tang is permanently barred from jobs involving close contact with minors and ordered him to compensate the victim's parents for economic losses.

Court findings showed that between September and November of 2019, Tang committed two acts of rape and one act of forcible molestation against the student while serving as her head teacher at a senior high school. The victim was suffering from depression at the time.

After graduating in June 2020, the student repeated a year at another senior high school and later enrolled at a university in September 2021. She dropped out in September 2023 due to illness and died by suicide at her home in January 2025 following a depressive episode.

The court said forensic analysis determined that Tang's crimes were not the direct cause of the victim's death but had aggravated her depressive condition.

In its ruling, the court described the offenses as "vicious in nature", with serious consequences and a high degree of social harm, adding that severe punishment was warranted under the law.

The case first drew public attention in February 2025 after an online complaint was posted on Feb 10. The following evening, Baise authorities said a joint task force involving education, public security, and disciplinary inspection departments had been set up to investigate the allegations.

Tang was later confirmed to have seriously violated professional ethics and was expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public service on Feb 11. Police subsequently placed him under criminal compulsory measures, according to previous statements from local authorities.