HAIKOU - The trials of a former school principal and former government clerk who allegedly raped primary school girls in hotels in May opened in a court in South China's Hainan province on Thursday.

The No 1 Intermediate People's Court of Hainan Province heard the cases of Chen Zaipeng, the former principal of Wanning No 2 Primary School, and Feng Xiaosong, a former clerk at the city's property administration bureau.

Both men have been charged with rape, and the cases were accepted by the court on June 9.

The two men were arrested in May on suspicions of child molestation. Chen stands accused of taking four girls to a hotel, while Feng allegedly took two girls to another hotel on the evening of May 8, according to local police.

The girls were all in the sixth grade and aged between 11 and 14.