A man from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, accused of kidnapping, raping and torturing a 17-year-old girl from Hunan Province told police he had made a deal with her to buy her virginity for 20,000 yuan ($3,200), the Nandu Daily reported Thursday.



The suspect surnamed Chen, 44, originally from Liaoning Province, was arrested in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, on Tuesday. He told police that he met the girl surnamed Han in January through an online post stating that Han needed 20,000 yuan to pay her grandfather's medical expenses and offered to sell her virginity.



Chen said he contacted Han and deposited several thousand yuan into her bank account. He told Han that he would pay 20,000 yuan to have sex with her, and bought her a plane ticket from Fujian Province to Shenzhen. He said when she arrived he prepaid her 9,000 yuan, the newspaper reported.



Han arrived in Shenzhen on February 26 and Chen took her to his apartment, sexually abusing her by handcuffing her limbs and hanging her in a sack. Over the next two days, Chen used a monitoring system in his apartment to prevent Han from escaping.



Han fled two days later, when Chen left the apartment. Through his monitoring system, Chen knew Han escaped and he fled the province.



Shi Jianwei, a lawyer with Beijing Yixing Law Firm, told the Global Times that even if Chen had given money to Han, he can still be charged with rape if the girl was unwilling to engage in sex. "Even if both people agreed to have sex, he can still be charged if it caused harm to the abused."



Zhang Saiyan, a lawyer with Beijing Xindong Law Firm, told the Global Times that if Chen's version of events is true, Han could be at fault because she took the initiative to come to Shenzhen.



"If Chen provides a written version of their agreement, like message logs, he might receive a lighter sentence," said Zhang. "But on the other hand, raping minors can draw a long prison sentence in China."



The age of consent in China is 18 years old.