(ECNS) -- The case of a student killed and buried by his classmates on March 10 in Handan City, North China's Hebei Province, has drawn widespread condemnation.
The victim, surnamed Wang, was a junior school freshman at Jiudian Middle School in Feixiang District, Handan, and the three perpetrators, his classmates.
All three suspects were apprehended the next day following the tragedy, and an official police investigation launched involving 60 personnel.
An autopsy that lasted more than an hour revealed injuries to the victim's head, face, and back, according to police officers.
A premeditated crime
Li Yafeng, director of the supervision office of the Public Security Sub-bureau in Feixiang District, confirmed the murder to have been premeditated, saying the three suspects dug a pit twice in an abandoned vegetable greenhouse in which to bury the body.
The dilapidated greenhouse where the murder occurred is located in Zhangzhuang Village, over 10 kilometers from the victim's residence in Jiudian, and about a hundred meters from the home of one suspect.
"According to our findings, the pit was 0.56 meters deep. So, the claim of a pit depth exceeding two meters and adult involvement are rumors,” police stressed.
Both the victim and three suspects were left-behind children, living with their grandparents while their parents were working elsewhere.
Case may become first to be prosecuted after criminal age is lowered
Lawyer Yue Shenshan from Beijing Yuecheng Law Firm said the case would most likely activate Article 17, Paragraph 3 of China's Criminal Law and become the first prosecuted case nationwide since the addition of this provision in 2020.
Article 17 stipulates that "a person who has reached the age of 12 but not 14 shall bear criminal responsibility if he or she commits intentional homicide or intentional injury, resulting in death or causing serious injury by particularly cruel means like severe disability." This provision was added by Amendment XI to the Criminal Law, which took effect on March 1, 2021.
In this case, the three suspects are already 12. It is highly likely they would be prosecuted with the approval of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), the first such instance following the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility, Yue said.
Murder shines light on campus bullying
Although Li Anjing, principal of the middle school, denied evidence of bullying in the students' daily school life, the victim's relatives refused to accept his claims.
Li Jian, a national second-level psychological counselor and director of the Youth Social Work Service Center in Ulanhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, explained in an interview with China News Service that a perpetrator may commit homicide because of being spoiled since childhood, or influenced by family members resorting to violence to solve problems.
It is also possible that the perpetrator, after experiencing violence themselves, may resort to violence against others as a way to vent, Li added.
In addition, Guo Liangbao, an expert of the Shandong Provincial Juvenile Delinquent Correction Center, with years of experience in juvenile offender rehabilitation, pointed out that excluding mental illnesses and other special reasons, a few underage individuals who commit bullying and violent crimes at school may be associated with antisocial personality traits.
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