12-year-old Chinese boy kills mother after beating

After hacking his mother to death with a kitchen knife, Wu Bing (pseudonym), a sixth grader from Yuanjiang, Central China’s Hunan Province, was unusually calm, even emotionless when being questioned.

His uncle, saddened by the murder, asked the boy, “Do you think it was wrong to kill your mother?” Wu shrugged and said, “It was my own mother that I killed, not someone else.”

On the night of December 2, Wu’s mother, surnamed Chen, 34, discovered that her 12-year-old son had stolen and smoked all the cigarettes that she brought back home from banquets.

She became angry and beat him, which led to Wu’s murder.

Chen was a migrant worker before 2016 but returned to Yuanjiang after giving birth to Wu’s younger brother.

After the murder, Wu imitated Chen’s tone and sent a message to his teacher, asking for a sick leave.

The murder was not discovered until Wu’s grandfather checked Chen’s bedroom from the window.

“Wu is under 14 and cannot be criminally charged,” Liu Changsong, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

“What about your future?” Wu’s relatives asked him while discussing his custody on December 5.

“The school can’t kick me out, can it?” Wu asked in reply.

“The tragedy and Wu’s reaction reflect the lack of legal education among left-behind children,” Liu noted.