A Chinese teenager suffered horrific burns to her face after she was doused in petrol and set alight because she spurned the advances of a classmate.

Zhou Yan, 17, had been flattered when Tao Rukun, also 17 and the son of a wealthy and well-connected family, had asked her out for a date.

But when she decided he was too arrogant, and told him to leave her alone, she said he had become aggressive and threatening.

Her worried parents had moved her to a new school, but instead of being put off Tao pestered her at her home, and after asking to speak to her in private in her room last September, doused her in petrol and set her on fire.

He then stood by as she screamed and her terrified grandmother tried to put out the blaze that left her horrifically burned over 30 per cent of her body, particularly around her head, neck and chest.

Despite the pain, her ordeal was not over as her parents could not afford the medical bills, and were reliant on her attacker’s family to pay the cost.

Tao’s parents were local government officials. Tao’s father works for Hefei urban planning bureau and his mother is with Hefei Audit Bureau.

But when she refused to sign a statement saying it had been an accident, the payments suddenly stopped, and she ended up back at home.

Her parents said: ‘We did not even have the money to properly repair her room that had been damaged by the fire.’

It seemed as if Tao would get away with the attack – until her dad posted a picture of his girl before and after on the internet. It went viral, and put massive pressure on local officials to reopen the case.

Stalked: Her parents had moved her to a new school, but instead of being put off Tao pestered her at her home

Traumatic: Her terrified grandmother tried to put out the blaze that left Yan horrifically burned over 30 per cent of her body, particularly around her head, neck and chest

Painful rehabilitation: Yan’s parents could not afford the medical bills for her treatment, so they were reliant on her attacker’s family to pay the costs. But they stopped paying when she refused to say it was an accident

Pretty: Yan in a picture before the attack next to her in bed while she is treated for her injuries

As a result the attackers family started to pay the medical bills again, and Tao was jailed for 12 years by the Baohe District People’s Court in Hefei – escaping the death penalty because he had been 17 when the attack happened.

But it did not help Yan with her depression, and her mother Li Cong, 42, said: ‘She was hysterical when she first woke up. She refused to eat, cried every day and kept biting her tongue in agony because she couldn’t move.

‘I can’t forget her face when she heard she had to go back to her own bedroom, her old bed headboard was burned black.’

Shattered life: Yan with her attacker Tao Rukun, whom she rejected because she thought he was arrogant

Justice: Tao was jailed for 12 years by the Baohe District People’s Court in Hefei. He escaped the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the attack

The parents feared for the worse, until a kind well-wisher sent her a classical Chinese musical instrument, a Guqin, a seven-stringed plucked instrument.

And although even she admits she is unable to play any complete songs, she says the simple act of trying has given her a new lease of life.

She is now getting lessons, and has also started to study again.

She said: ‘I want to do my college entrance exams as well, it is a goal to help me forget all the plastic surgery I still need. But I want to put my life back on track, and music has been such a help to me.

‘My path to my dreams is now a different one, but thanks to the music I have remembered those dreams again, and I believe there will be miracles waiting on my road to help me fulfil them.’
Read more: Daily Mail