Twenty-seven Chinese officials have been penalised for wrongful execution of an 18 year old for the crime he was acquitted of, Chinese state news agency reported.

It is reported the Chinese government has finally given given “administrative penalties, including admonitions and record of demerit” to twenty-six judicial and correctional service official twenty-four years after they executed Huugjilt.

The other official, Feng Zhiming, was suspected of other crimes related to his job and was being investigated

Huugjilt, 18 at that time, was convicted of the rape and murder of a woman in a factory’s public toilet in 1996.

18 years later a court in China cleared his name of the rape and murder of a woman after a serial rapist and killer confessed to the crime in 2005.

It was concluded that Huugjilt had tried to help save the woman after hearing her cry out from a public toilet. He reported the crime to police.

But because the ‘detectives were under pressure to secure a conviction’, Huugjilt was arrested in April of that same year and executed in June of that same year.

It is extremely rare for one to be acquitted of a crime in China and it is unusual for convictions to be overturned.

The country is known for its excessive use of executions.

In 2014, the day the court found Huugjilt not guilty, his heartbroken family was given 30,000 yuan ($4850; £3080) as a sign to show sympathy.