In the final moments captured on surveillance cameras before the tragic death of a 13-year-old boy, he was seen seated on a scooter, surrounded by three of his classmates. An hour later, his phone ceased functioning, prompting a frantic search by his relatives. The following day, authorities in a village in central China made a chilling discovery: the boy’s body, concealed beneath a tarp in an abandoned vegetable greenhouse.
The three teenage classmates have been apprehended on suspicion of the boy’s murder, a case that has gripped China, igniting outrage and intense debate concerning the tender age of the suspects and prompting introspection regarding bullying and societal obligations in rural China.
Identified by authorities in the Feixiang district of Handan city solely by his last name, Wang, the boy was reported to have been killed on March 10th, with the suspects detained the subsequent day. According to a police investigator speaking on state broadcaster CCTV, the crime was premeditated, with the suspects having dug out a pit twice, once on the day before and again on the day of the killing.
Family members and their legal representatives conveyed to Chinese media and through social media posts that the boy had long endured bullying, having been coerced into providing money to one of his classmates prior to his demise. The suspects were reportedly identified through scrutiny of surveillance footage and interviews with their classmates.
“He was subjected to a beating while alive, and his body was disfigured beyond recognition,” lamented Wang’s father on Douyin, a Chinese social media platform. “I implore the authorities to administer fair, transparent, and just punishment and for the perpetrators to pay with their lives!”
This case will serve as a litmus test for a legislative amendment in 2021, which lowered the age at which children could be charged with a crime from 14 to 12 years old.
Wang’s immediate family members did not respond to requests for comment. An individual answering a phone number associated with their attorney’s law firm directed inquiries to await comment due to overwhelming interview requests. Calls made to the principal of the boy’s school and to relatives of two of the suspects went unanswered.
Both the victim and the suspects are under the age of 14 and are described in media reports as “left-behind” children, a term denoting youngsters in rural areas often under the care of grandparents while their parents labor in distant cities.
The tragedy’s unfolding has reignited concerns regarding the social and psychological well-being of such children, their exposure to online violence, and the adequacy of the country’s social services to cater to them. Posts and videos shared by Wang’s relatives have garnered millions of views and thousands of comments.
“There’s insufficient attention paid to the mental health of minors in rural areas,” remarked one commenter on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. “I fear such incidents could recur.”
Zhang Dongshuo, a defense attorney in Beijing unaffiliated with the case, noted that Wang’s demise is the latest in a string of juvenile murder cases in China that have triggered discussions on the appropriate age for holding children accountable for crimes.
“Typically, cases involving minors are rare,” Zhang stated. “However, there’s been an increasing number of such cases reported by the media recently, sparking debate in Chinese society about revising the age of criminal responsibility.”
In 2019, a 13-year-old boy who confessed to sexually assaulting and murdering a 10-year-old girl evaded criminal charges due to Chinese law at the time stipulating that only those over the age of 14 could be held criminally liable.
Two years later, the age of criminal responsibility was lowered to 12, but the government mandated that prosecution proceed only with approval from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, China’s highest prosecuting authority.
Zhang added that the longstanding issue of parental guidance for “left-behind” children remains unresolved, with questions persisting about how they should be raised.
“Many believe that schools and the government should assume responsibility for children’s education. However, if the relevant government agencies and schools fail to provide effective education, then these minors are essentially left in an educational void,” he explained.
State media extensively covered Wang’s death, though there are indications that Chinese authorities are closely monitoring public sentiment. On Sunday, the family’s attorney, Zang Fanqing, was abruptly cut off during a live broadcast after revealing that he and Wang’s father were denied access to the boy’s body. The following day, Zang announced on social media that they had been granted access.
In a public statement on Sunday, police urged the public not to spread rumors to safeguard the victim’s privacy and prevent further harm to the boy’s family.
The family has indicated their intention to pursue criminal charges. In a video posted by Wang’s father on Monday, he expressed that seeing his son’s body was “even more heartbreaking than I imagined.”
“Your father isn’t afraid, only saddened and furious,” Wang’s father wrote, addressing his deceased son. “Your father will seek justice for you!”
