Meijin is one of China's top criminal psychologists and a controversial figure thanks to her comments about understanding the minds of killers.

Li Meijin, 53, is one of China's most prestigious crime psychologists but found herself at the center of controversy recently when she said people should try to understand the minds of killers and treat them with mercy.

"Although criminal offenders are seen as demons in the eyes of most people, I just tried to make more understand that the bad guys had gone through pain and desolation before they turned bad," Li said.

Yao Jiaxin, a college student in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, went on trial on March 26 charged with stabbing a cyclist to death after knocking her off her bike with his car last October.

In a recent TV interview, Li said Yao's behavior could have been related to miserable experiences during his childhood. Her comments were attacked by many netizens.

Li said during the TV program: "Yao had been forced to practice the piano against his will and he used to smash at the keys to vent his anger.

"His behavior of stabbing the victim eight times could have been a mechanical repetition of him hitting the piano keys."

When the interview was shown on China Central Television, it drew the ire of netizens who criticized Li for her "protection" of Yao.

Online commentators said Li was finding stupid excuses for his alleged crime, which showed disrespect to the victim and seemed to suggest Li saw the killing as art.

She said her critics were getting it all wrong.

"I did not, and I cannot, find excuses for anyone to avoid punishment under the law," she said. "It is up to the judges to issue a sentence. My charge is to find out why a college student would unhesitatingly kill someone he had never met before in such a cruel way."

"Psychologically, the point is, why would he stab her as many as eight times?" Li said.

"He must have been letting off his anger toward something that had influenced his life in the past."

According to reports, Yao's father had been very strict with his only son and had forced him to practice the piano incessantly.

Yao's confession claimed he had been locked in the basement when his piano playing had not met his father's expectations.

Yao eventually passed the Grade 10 Piano Test (the highest in China) and enrolled into a music college in Xi'an.

"Playing the piano requires good technique. Some people may enjoy the wonderful feeling of art in the practice, but some hide their anger," Li said. "As a result, I believe that knocking someone down was the blasting fuse that lit the bomb of his anger and led to the killing."

Li, who is a professor of criminal psychology at the Chinese People's Public Security University, has studied the criminal mind for almost three decades and has spoken to suspects.