To The Judge
Re: The impact of the murder of the Chinese overseas student Jiao Dan
I am Jiao Jian, the grieving father of the deceased, Jiao Dan. I am writing to you in my deepest sorrow to, firstly, express our most sincere gratitude towards the justice and humanitarianism that have been upheld in dealing with my daughterÂ’s murder case, and secondly, to present to you the traumatic impact of such a brutal act on my family as well as the society.
Psychological and emotional impact
Our only daughter, Jiao Dan, was a kind, innocent, lovely, diligent and upright girl. She loved Australia. She often mentioned to us on the phone what a beautiful place Perth is and how good, hospitable and helpful Australians are. She said that it was a great privilege for her to study at Edith Cowan University. She was seen as a student leader in university and well liked by other students and teaching staff. She came to know some Christian friends and subsequently became a Christian. Her life was filled with joy, hope and purpose from her newfound faith. She was involved in many church activities. She not only enjoyed her study in Perth but also found a spiritual home for her soul. She was an intelligent young girl with a bright future. She was at the beginning of a life that would have been a blessing and a benefit to many in due time. However, it has been prematurely ended by the cruellest act under the sun. It has caused indignation among those with good conscience to see such a precious and responsible life taken by someone spending his life doing nothing but inflicting pain and destruction to the society.
My wife and I are over 50 years old. In the past 22 years, we have worked very hard to bring our daughter up in the right way that she will be a useful person to society later. I used to be a soldier and was trained to protect my country, but I could not protect my only daughter when she needed me. We invested all our love and hope in our only child. She had lived up to our expectation and we were very proud of her. The terrible heart-breaking news of her being murdered came to us like deafening thunder. After losing her, there is nothing left in life for us. I believe every parent understands the unspeakable pain we felt. All our dreams of seeing our daughter growing up successful and accomplished contributing to the welfare of our society and our dreams of having a happy and satisfied life in our old age can no longer even remain as dreams. We cried till our tears dried up. My wife is so depressed that she has lost interest in life. She has already attempted suicide. She barely manages to sleep for a few hours each day and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. As her husband I have to support my wife, even with the devastation I am experiencing. We are tormented every day by the loss of our daughter in such a brutal way, and by the regret of sending her here to study. Our lives now are filled with pain, despair and loneliness.
My wife and I still have our parents in their 90s. Their greatest wish in life at this stage was to see their grand-daughter start a family of her own. We havenÂ’t been able to find the strength and courage to break this horrible news to them in fear of them not able to survive the ordeal.
In China, from ancient times, the continuation of the family line has been seen as one of lifeÂ’s most sacred duties. My wife and I now feel we have failed our family in this regard.
Physical health impact
My wife suffered from angina, frequent collapses, hypertension and bradycardia since the shocking news reached us. She was hospitalised twice, once in China and another time here in Australia. She was resuscitated at least 5 times so far. I also experience angina and headaches. We lost about 10 kg from unable to eat or drink properly in this short period of time.
Financial impact
We leave off our salaries. All our savings have been invested into our daughterÂ’s further education. We also support and take care of our aged parents. In China, we donÂ’t have a well-established social welfare and health insurance system like Australia does. We depend on very much for our children to provide for us when we grow old. With the loss of our only child, we also lose our future support.
This trip to Australia also incurred a great cost from the funeral expenses and the daily expenses by our companions and us.
Social impact
The death of our daughter has not just devastated us, it has also had a huge impact on her friends and the society around her. Many of her friends have had to take leave from work or study to help them come to terms with this tragedy. Some of Jiao DanÂ’s classmates have had to receive counselling.
The murder has also impacted various levels of society. Right from the government and the police to the ECU, the media, and various social communities and student groups as well as the Chinese Embassy, a great amount of financial resources and manpower has been expended. It has caused a sense of insecurity among international students here in Perth.
Jiao Dan was just 22 years old. Her life had just begun.
People have only one opportunity to live their life,
Based on the wide-ranging devastating impact of the murder, we want to make a plea that the accused should receive his well-deserved punishment of life in prison, and not to be released under any conditions.
This poor old dude is honest. The tears shed by him and his wife are real. Can't quite say the same about Huang Shuying. 