On September 21, a homicide occurred in Shanggan Tang Village, Jiangyong County, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. The victim was a 9-year-old girl found dead naked in the river with injuries on her body. The latest information indicates that the suspect is a boy from the same village who is under 14 years old.
According to a report from the official media “The New Beijing News” on October 9, after preliminary investigation, it was confirmed that the girl was murdered by drowning, and the suspect is a boy from the same village.
Informants revealed that the teenage boy involved is a second-year junior high school student who is under 14 years old. On October 2, the police took the boy to the crime scene for identification, where he admitted to drowning the girl. A village cadre in Shanggan Tang Village mentioned that the suspect’s family had apologized to the victim’s family. The local police station stated that both the victim and the suspect are minors, and the case is still under further investigation.
On September 26, “The New Beijing News” obtained a video showing that the 9-year-old girl from Shanggan Tang Village in Jiangyong County, Hunan, was found dead in the river. The mother of the deceased girl told reporters that when her daughter was found on the 21st, she was not wearing clothes and had injuries on her body.
A village cadre in Shanggan Tang Village stated that a villager discovered the body while feeding chickens and the location where it was found was relatively remote, with the girl’s head appearing to have injuries. The family of the deceased girl mentioned that the authorities have yet to conduct an autopsy.
According to various self-media reports from mainland China, the incident occurred on September 21 when a villager, Mrs. Zhou, was spending time at a small shop near the village entrance with her 9-year-old daughter. Due to rain, Mrs. Zhou and her friends were playing cards while her daughter played nearby.
During this time, the daughter repeatedly urged her mother to go home. Seeing that it was still early, Mrs. Zhou allowed her daughter to go back home by herself, reminding her to be safe. After 20 minutes, when Mrs. Zhou called home to check if her daughter had arrived, she learned that the child had not returned. Mrs. Zhou immediately joined the villagers in searching for her daughter.
Around 5 p.m., a villager feeding chickens by the river discovered the girl’s naked body floating in the water, covered in bruises with severe swelling on her face.
The villagers promptly notified the authorities, and the girl’s body was recovered from the river. Her clothes and one shoe were found in the river, while the other shoe was located near a distant canal.
On September 26, Mrs. Zhou revealed online that her daughter had been murdered, found naked and injured. She shared photos of the location where her daughter’s body was discovered, surrounded by tall grass in a secluded area with a spacious river. She questioned, “Could a child come here to bathe? Do you think it’s possible?”
This incident immediately sparked the attention of Chinese netizens.
Netizens expressed concerns, “The child was found naked with injuries, in such a remote location, all these details are unsettling and perplexing. We hope the authorities can quickly uncover the truth, provide answers to the family, and give the public a clear explanation.”
“A 9-year-old child is capable of making short trips to visit friends. If parents playing cards nearby allow the child to go home alone, it is not unusual. Who would have thought such a tragedy would occur? Children also need space to grow up, it’s impossible to constantly monitor them 24/7.”
“In rural areas, it’s quite common for older children to return home by themselves if the school is nearby. The focus should not be on the parent playing cards but on the criminal. Blame and condemnation should be directed towards the criminal, not the parent who was ‘allegedly’ playing cards.”
“The mother may have made a mistake, but regardless of what the girl’s mother was doing at that time, shouldn’t the primary focus be on the perpetrator? The criminal chose to break the law, regardless of age.”
“So, what’s the point of encouraging childbirth? It’s more important to provide protection and education to the children already born. If every child has parents, isn’t left behind, receives attention, and is protected by the state and society, then is the birth rate still an issue?”