A Chinese karaoke bar waitress who became a folk hero after fatally stabbing a Communist Party official who demanded sex was freed June 16 by a court that ruled she acted in self-defense, state media said.

The Badong County People's Court in Hubei province exempted Deng Yujiao, 21, from punishment for the crime of intentional injury because she was acting in self-defense, the official People's Daily newspaper said in a brief report on its Web site.

The report said the court ruled that Deng had limited criminal responsibility and also took into account that she turned herself in to the police after using a fruit knife to stab 43-year-old Deng Guida, no relation, who later died.