Three Chinese children face death penalty for bludgeoning a 13-year classmate until he was “disfigured beyond recognition”.
The suspects, who were all under 14 years old, have been accused of bullying the boy, Wang, for a month before beating him to death and burying his body in an abandoned greenhouse in Hebei, China last month.
His grieving father took to social media to speak about the horrors his son faced. “He was beaten alive and his body was disfigured beyond recognition”, he wrote on Douyin, which is similar to TikTok. “I hope the government will be fair, open and just, punish them severely, and that the killers will pay with their lives.”
The case’s grim details have sparked a debate in China over how the law manages young people who have been charged with serious crimes.Just two years ago, Beijing lowered its age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 years old. Now children can be tried in “special cases”, including murder through “extremely cruel means”. Due to the publicity and the harrowing details of the case, it’s possible that the three boys could face execution.
The last known CCTV sighting of the boy was on March 10. Surveillance cameras picked up the lad on his scooter, surrounded by his bullies and soon-to-be killers – identified only by their surnames Zhang, Li and Ma. It was just an hour after the video that his phone went dead, sparking a frantic search.
Twenty-four hours later, police discovered the boy’s body crudely covered by a tarp in an abandoned greenhouse. The three were arrested the following day.
Speaking to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, an investigating source said they found the burial pit had been dug out twice – once on the day before and then on the day of the killing – proving a sinister level of premeditation.
Wang’s family has spoken out about the bullying their son had faced, saying that he’d been forced to hand over money to one of the killers before his murder.
Police say they found the killers by looking at the CCTV footage and interviewing classmates. The local prosecutor’s office said they had confirmed that the three suspects were between the ages of 12 and 14 at the time of the “intentional” killing.
The country’s top public prosecutor is said to have been roped in to determine if it’s appropriate for them to be held criminally responsible for their actions.
“While handling cases strictly in accordance with the law, the procuratorial organs will… further strengthen the prevention and treatment of juvenile crimes,” the provincial prosecutor added.
In adult cases under Chinese law, murder is punishment by life in prison or execution. Wang’s death is being covered widely by state media, but there are signs that Beijing is keeping an eye on the public’s opinions to determine the best course of action.
(MIRROR UK)
