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Two teenagers in Hebei were sentenced to prison for killing their 13-year-old classmate in March.
A court in northern China has sentenced two teenagers to lengthy prison terms for killing a classmate with a shovel in a case that has sparked a national debate over the treatment of juvenile delinquents.
Three suspects, all 13 at the time of the murder, were charged in April with harassing a 13-year-old classmate named Wang over a long period of time before eventually killing him in an abandoned greenhouse in March.
The grim details of the case, in which the killers reportedly attacked Wang with a shovel before burying his body, have drawn public attention to how the law treats juveniles accused of serious crimes.
Two of the suspects, surnamed Zhang and Li, were sentenced to life and 12 years in prison respectively for premeditated murder by a court in Handan city in Hebei province, China's CCTV reported on Monday. No motive was given.
The court found that the killing methods were “particularly cruel and the circumstances particularly abhorrent”, he added.
A third suspect, surnamed Ma, escaped with a “special correctional education” sentence, in accordance with the law, the broadcaster said.
They were detained a day after the victim's body was found on March 10 buried in a shallow pit in an abandoned greenhouse on the outskirts of the city, state media said.
The court said Zhang bore the primary responsibility for killing Wang with a shovel and initially came up with the plan for the murder, while Li, his main accomplice, joined in the killing and subsequent burial.
Ma followed the couple to the scene of the murder and witnessed the murder but did not participate.
In 2021 China lowered its age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 for “special cases” such as causing death by “extremely cruel means”.
The Hebei case is believed to be one of the first to apply the lower age limit.
At the time of the crime, state media said all four were descendants of migrant rural workers who spend most of the year working in big cities, leaving grandparents and other relatives to care for their children.
Some commentators and lawyers have called for harsher penalties, including the death penalty, arguing that juveniles have often faced insufficient consequences for serious crimes in recent years.
According to the 2020 census data. there are nearly 67 million so-called “abandoned” children in China. Academic research shows that these children are more vulnerable to mental health problems, bullying and involvement in criminal activities.
