Suspects of gruesome murder of schoolboy in north China planned killing: police
The abandoned vegetable shed where the suspects bury the body of the schoolboy in Feixiang District, Handan City, Hebei Province.
The suspects, under-aged and alleged to have killed a junior high school student in a north China city, 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 discovered killed in Feixiang District, Handan City in north China’s Hebei Province, on March 10. Earlier that day, he had informed his grandmother that he was going out with classmates but went missing afterward.
The suspects, reported to be Wang’s classmates, were apprehended on March 11 and are in police custody. Authorities did not disclose the exact number of suspects involved.
The pit where the victim's body is buried in an abandoned vegetable shed in Feixiang District, Handan City, Hebei Province.
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 later deepened the pit on the day of the murder to bury the body, China Central Television reported on Tuesday.
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 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 offenses like intentional homicide, causing death through severe injuries, or using exceptionally cruel methods to harm others.
