A Chinese man convicted in 2011 of fraud and illegal fund-raising activities had been executed on Friday, and his family was the last to know about it. Although the family could only shrug, no matter how painful it was not to have seen their loved one for the last time, Chinese nationals nonetheless questioned the rather merciless and inhumane final gesture.

Zeng Shen, daughter of the executed Zeng Chengjie, a real estate developer in Jishou, Hunan, took to Sina Weibo, China's microblogging site, the hurt she felt upon learning of her father's execution.

Chinese Man Convicted of Financial Fraud Executed by Court Without Informing His Family First, Sparks Furor

"Devastating news: My dad was executed this morning," the 23-year-old daughter Ms Zeng Shan wrote on Friday. "We didn't even get to see him one last time! Didn't hear a last word! The government still hasn't notified us! I didn't know they would move so fast!"

Her father's execution was believed to have been carried out through lethal injection.

Chinese Man Convicted of Financial Fraud Executed by Court Without Informing His Family First, Sparks Furor

Forwarded by more than 70,000 times since it was first published, Ms Zeng's post had likewise generated close to 50,000 comments by Tuesday afternoon.

"Inhuman," "cold" and "Isn't this against law and human rights?" were among those included in the comments.

However, the court that convicted Zeng, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court, argued the "[t]he law doesn't require expressly that a criminal has to meet his family when he is executed."

To which could actually bear a grain of truth, depending on the current interpretation of the law, according to Wu Ming'an, a professor of criminal law at China University of Political Science and Law.

Mr Wu said relatives may get to see their loved ones for the last time before an execution if they so request for it. Courts in China, he said, are not required to inform families of their relatives' execution neither to arrange meetings. That's why most often, relatives really don't know that a date for an execution has been scheduled.

"In other words, there is still no clear article in our law asking executing courts to inform families in advance, which is unreasonable," he said.

The Changsha Intermediate People's Court, in a statement, said Zeng made no requests to see his family before his death.

Often referred to as "China's Bernie Madoff," Mr Zeng was convicted for the fraudulent fundraising of approximately $460 million from more than 57,000 investors.

However, Hong Daode, a law professor with the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times that a mere notice on its bulletin board, as what the Changsha Intermediate People's Court claimed on its defence, is not enough notice to inform anybody, much less the family of the person to be executed.

The court, through Zeng Dingxin, spokesman of the Hunan Provincial High People's Court, said it published a notice regarding Mr Zeng execution on Friday.

"The court is obliged to inform in different phases of the case," Mr Hong said, further arguing a bulletin notice announces the judicial activities the court plans to carry out. It usually does not require the public to respond.

"However, they can't replace their duty to inform the family before the execution," Mr Hong said. "There is no clear regulation on when the death penalty review should be passed to the lawyer, but the lawyer is entitled to report to the court's discipline inspection department of the judge's improper acts, such as failure to inform."