A former Chinese graduate student in Japan was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of killing a fellow Chinese student in Tokyo last year.

The prosecutor told the District Court in the Japanese capital that on Nov 3 last year, Chen Shifeng, 26, stabbed Jiang Ge, 24, in the neck a dozen times outside her apartment in Tokyo's Nakano Ward.

Jiang, a friend of Chen and his former girlfriend Liu Xin, died about two hours after arriving at a nearby hospital.

Chen and Liu attended the same graduate school in Tokyo. After living together between June and August, they broke up, with Liu moving in with Jiang.

To win back Liu, Chen had intimidated her before he killed Jiang, according to the police.

Before the killing, Jiang and Liu had a quarrel with Chen, who had hidden himself in the apartment building with a fruit knife and waited for the women to return from an evening out, the court was heard.

The prosecutor requested imprisonment of 20 years for Chen. The court approved the recommendation.

But Jiang Qiulian, mother of Jiang Ge, had asked the court to deliver capital punishment for the killer. She said she presented the court a petition signed by more than 4.5 million people before the hearings started.

caihong@chinadaily.com.cn