China TV host jailed for illegal confinement of ex-boy friend

A former Chinese TV host and wannabe beauty queen has been sentenced to one and a half years in prison for holding an ex-boyfriend captive with the help of her husband.

Gao Lu, 24, runner-up in this year's regional Miss Universe contest in Jiangxi Province, and her husband Yan Shuyang were found guilty of detaining a man surnamed Chen for four days in several hotels around Beijing in April in an attempt to force him to repay 170,000 yuan (21,000 U.S. dollars).

Three co-defendants were jailed for up to one year for assisting the couple,including Gao's two former colleagues and one schoolmate.

Chen was released after being beaten up and forced to repay 40,000 yuan (500 U.S. dollars). Gao joined in the beating and forced Chen to sign IOUs, according to local media.

After hearing the verdict, Gao broke down in tears, according to local media reports. "I didn't think my actions were violating the law until I was arrested," she was quoted as saying.

She also claimed to quote Hilary Clinton. "I believe the words of Hilary Clinton: I believe the real glamour of life is to rise again after the hard times and I believe my tomorrow will be better," local media quoted her as saying.

Gao was given the job as a TV presenter for Nanchang TV in Jiangxi last year but was fired in March because she kept disappearing from work at random intervals during her probationary work period, according to the station.

Source: Xinhua