Schoolyard fight turns into tragedy in China as child stabbed to death
- Incident the latest in a string of violent cases involving children
Police in central China have detained a 13-year-old boy after he allegedly stabbed a classmate to death during a lunchtime argument at school, according to authorities.
Police took Yan Haoling, 13, into custody after he allegedly fatally stabbed classmate He Yutao, 12, in the stomach and back at Zhumu Middle School in Lianyuan, Hunan province, on Tuesday, He’s aunt told the South China Morning Post.
The aunt, who declined to be named, said she was told that the argument started when Haoling kicked a ball into Yutao’s belly.
She said Yutao’s parents had been away working in Guangdong province and was being cared for by his grandparents.
She said she had also spoken to Haoling’s father.
“We talked on the phone. He told me he wanted to kill his son [for what’s happened]. Hearing such grieving words, I didn’t know what to do but end the conversation,” she said.
Haoling’s father declined to comment to the Post.
The city government said the police investigation was under way.
Under Chinese law, children below the age of 14 are not criminally responsible.
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The case comes just weeks after an eight-year-old girl sustained serious blood loss from a beating allegedly inflicted by two classmates in the northwest province of Gansu, according to authorities.
Beijing Youth Daily reported on Wednesday that the girl was still in hospital and in the care of her grandparents. She had been deserted at age one by her mother and her father was incapable of looking after her, the report said.
One of the two attackers was also a “left-behind” child and had not seen his parents for at least three years, the report said.
“Left-behind children” are a rural generation cared for by extended family as their parents work in other more prosperous parts of the country.
Also last month, a 12-year-old boy from Yuanjiang in Hunan province stabbed his mother to death after he was punished for smoking.
He spent most of his childhood with his grandparents because both his parents had been away working in Guangdong. His mother returned two years ago after giving birth to his younger brother.
When first questioned by police, the boy claimed his mother had taken her own life, local media reported.
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Li Ying, a Beijing-based lawyer and an advocate of women and children’s rights, said China’s left-behind children endured “heartbreaking and worrying” conditions.
“There’s no official data on whether this group of children has a higher crime rate, but serious problems do exist due to the loss or at least lack of family education,” Li said.
“One of the outcomes is many of those children can’t tell what’s right and what’s wrong, as you can see in some cases, the child did something cruel and didn’t realise it.”
She said some people had suggested lowering the age for criminal responsibility from 14 to control juvenile crimes “but I think it won’t work if the basic education doesn’t improve”.
