A Chinese court has sentenced a teenage boy to life imprisonment for the murder of his classmate, a verdict that has ignited a nationwide discussion about how juvenile offenders are treated in the legal system.
In April, three suspects, all under the age of 14 at the time of the incident, were charged with bullying a 13-year-old classmate named Wang for an extended period before ultimately taking his life in an abandoned greenhouse.
The shocking details of the case, which included reports of the assailants attacking Wang with a shovel and then burying him, have raised significant public concern regarding the legal repercussions for minors involved in serious crimes.
On Monday, a court in Hebei province found one boy, surnamed Zhang, guilty of intentional homicide. Another boy, surnamed Li, received a 12-year prison sentence, while the third boy, surnamed Ma, who was determined not to have directly harmed the victim, was sentenced to correctional education.
In 2021, China revised its criminal responsibility age from 14 to 12 for “special cases,” including those resulting in death through “extremely cruel means.” This case in Hebei is believed to be among the first to implement this new age threshold.
The prosecution stated in its ruling that since the defendants were “over the age of 12 but under the age of 14 at the time of the crime… they should bear criminal responsibility” according to Chinese law. It emphasized that the methods used in the murder were “particularly cruel, and the circumstances were particularly vile.”
Under Chinese law, murder can lead to either imprisonment or the death penalty.
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