Suspects ‘planned’ classmate’s killing
THE under-age suspects in the killing of a junior high school student in Handan City, north China’s Hebei Province, are said to have meticulously planned their crime, including digging a pit in advance, as more evidence surfaced in the gruesome killing which has sparked calls for severe punishment for juvenile offenders.
The victim, a 13-year-old boy surnamed Wang, was found killed in Handan’s Feixiang District on March 10. Earlier that day, he told his grandmother that he was going out with classmates but went missing afterward.
The suspects, reportedly his classmates, were caught on March 11 and are in police custody. Authorities did not disclose the exact number of suspects involved.
According to Li Yafeng, an official with the Feixiang District Public Security Bureau, the suspects had dug a pit in an abandoned vegetable shed one day before the killing. They deepened the pit on the day of the murder to bury the body, China Central Television reported yesterday.
The pit measured around 56 centimeters deep, and it was confirmed that no adults were implicated in the crime, Li said.
An autopsy, conducted with the victim’s family members and lawyers present, has now been completed.
China revised its criminal law in 2021, lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 years old.
This change stipulates that individuals aged between 12 and 14 can be held criminally liable for various offenses like intentional homicide, causing death through severe injuries, or using exceptionally cruel methods to harm other people.