Mother stabbed to death; 12-year-old son is released

Public concerns raised over right way for system to handle cases of juveniles

A decision by police to release a 12-year-old boy who is believed to have stabbed his mother to death in Hunan province has drawn public attention to the issue of how young offenders are handled if they are below the statutory age for criminal prosecution.

On Dec 3, police in Yuanjiang city detained a sixth-grade student identified as Wu on suspicion of killing his 34-year-old mother with a knife, local authorities said via social media.

Investigators later said the boy stabbed his mother multiple times the day before at about 9 pm, retaliating after she beat him.

Chinese law sets 14 as the statutory age for legal responsibility involving severe crimes, so local police released the boy, the city government said in an online statement on Thursday. Wu’s father said that was on Dec 6.

Wu was placed under the joint guardianship of his family, the public security department and education authorities because he is too young to be sent to juvenile disciplinary facilities that hold young offenders between the ages of 14 and 17, the statement said.

The local government had said it would provide Wu with psychological counseling and tutoring for schoolwork while an ideal longterm solution is being sought.

That solution may have been determined on Thursday, as Wu’s grandmother told the Beijing News that the boy was being sent to an institution in Changsha, Hunan, where he would undergo three years of education in a restrained environment.

After Wu’s release, the family decided to house him temporarily in a hotel in Sihushan township where he goes to school — instead of going back to their home in Donganyuan village — to avoid facing criticism from their neighbors and scaring other children, www.thepaper.cn reported on Thursday.

Although the family wanted Wu to resume his life, including going back to school as soon as possible, that wouldn’t be the best solution for the boy, youth crime expert Pi Yijun, director of the Youth Crime and Justice Research Centre at China University of Political Science and Law, said on Thursday.

After the local education authority said it had considered transferring Wu to another school, many parents in the city began to circulate the news on social media, asking other parents to watch out for transfer students who match the description of the “young murderer”.

“Although Wu’s action in killing his mother was impulsive, it’s closely linked to his family situation,” Pi said, adding that the boy’s parents have been away working since he was 6, and he desperately needs psychological intervention from professionals.

“His family situation led him to commit this violent crime, so he may also have issues with other family members, especially his father, so staying with his family may cause more complications,” Pi said.

The ultimate goal should be to protect the boy, he said.