Beijing - A court in central China's Hubei province on Tuesday freed a young woman accused of killing a local official who assaulted her after she refused to provide sexual services at a beauty parlour.

In a landmark ruling, the court in Hubei's Badong county found Deng Yujiao, 21, guilty on reduced charges of "intentional assault" but did not pass any custodial sentence, state media said.

The trial of the pedicurist took place amid an outpouring of public support for her through popular websites and state media.

The Global Times said Deng's case was "arguably the most talked-about court case" in China this year, after prosecutors dropped an initial murder charge following the stabbing of the official on May 10.

Deng had refused to join Deng Guida and another official in a bath at the beauty parlour and the two men "pushed, shoved and verbally abused her," the newspaper quoted police as saying.

She stabbed Deng Guida, 44, four times in self-defence with a fruit knife and then called the police emergency number to turn herself in, reports said.

Once details of the case were circulated online, a group of Chinese women's rights activists travelled to Badong to support Deng and raise public awareness of the abuse of women in China.

Several prominent lawyers also helped her free of charge, while thousands of people signed online petitions urging the court to show her leniency.

Pu Zhiqiang, one of Deng's lawyers, told the Global Times that popular support was "critical to the unprecedented transparency" leading up to her trial.

The court ruled that Deng had over-reacted in defending herself against sexual assault and was guilty of the charges against her, the official Xinhua news agency reported from Badong.

In theory, the maximum sentence for intentional assault is the death penalty.

But because of the circumstances and Deng's cooperation with the police, she was "exempted from criminal punishment" by the court, the agency said. (dpa)