Two girls under the age of 12 in Guangxi killed a 7-month-old baby boy. Now, a year after the incident, no criminal responsibility has been pursued, and the family has not received any compensation, sparking controversy.
On November 6th, a netizen named Mr. Li from Guangxi reported that his 7-month-old son was killed by two girls under 12 years old.
“I have no idea how to seek justice as it has been a year since the incident,” Mr. Li told Dajiyuan.
Mr. Li lives in a rural village in a county under the jurisdiction of Baise City, Guangxi. His son, Xiao Li, was born on January 1, 2024, and he was “just 7 months old” when he was killed.
Mr. Li mentioned that the perpetrators were children from a neighbor’s family who often came to play at their house. He was unclear about the motives of the two girls, aged 9 and 11, who are left-behind children still attending school.
The whole incident lasted about ten minutes before Xiao Li’s mother discovered what had happened. By that time, the two girls had already left.
“Xiao Li was sleeping at home when he was thrown to the ground and stomped on by the two individuals, which led to his death,” Mr. Li said. When the family found him, Xiao Li was already lifeless.
Surveillance footage released by netizens in Guangxi showed that on July 21, 2024, around 5 p.m., two girls entered Mr. Li’s courtyard.
Since the two individuals involved were under 12 years old and not of the age to be held criminally responsible, the police did not file a case.
According to an “Opinion Notice” issued by the Criminal Investigation Brigade of a certain county in Baise City on August 13, 2024, it was determined that Xiao Li died from heart failure caused by blunt force trauma to the chest.
In terms of civil matters, the court ruled that the guardians of the two girls should compensate Mr. Li’s family with over 900,000 RMB, but they claimed they had no money, and the compensation was not received.
The “Non-filing Notice” issued by the county’s public security bureau stated that the two suspects, Li (9 years old) and Cen (11 years old), were under 12 years old and not subject to criminal responsibility, thus no filing decision was made.
A mainland Chinese lawyer told Dafeng News that Chinese criminal law does not hold minors accountable for their crimes. Minors under 12 have not fully developed mentally and lack the ability to fully understand and control their actions, nor do they truly comprehend the severity and legal consequences of their behavior.
He suggested that in cases where parents face such tragedies, the primary legal recourse is to file a civil lawsuit and demand that the perpetrators’ guardians take civil liability. For those involved, family members should apply for specialized correctional education.
On this matter, netizens have been actively discussing:
“This is horrifying! How could children be capable of such evil deeds?””The two little demons going unpunished will surely lead to endless troubles.””There have been many instances in the past of minors committing murder without consequences, leading to increasingly audacious acts.”
Children in China being exempt from criminal liability for murder is not uncommon.
Previously, in Chongqing, a 10-year-old girl brutally attacked a 1.5-year-old boy and threw him from the 25th floor, causing severe injuries. Due to the girl not reaching the legal age for criminal responsibility, the police did not launch a criminal investigation. In Dalian, a 13-year-old boy attempted rape, killed a 10-year-old girl, and discarded her body in shrubbery. The authorities only subjected the perpetrator to containment and education for a period of 3 years.
In response to these incidents, Wu Shaoping, a Chinese lawyer residing in the United States, pointed out that Chinese people should reflect on why under the rule of the Communist Party, various social abnormalities and tragedies occur in China, while other countries do not experience child homicides as frequently as China does.
Wu suggested adopting the “malignant age supplement” system from countries like the United Kingdom and the United States. In cases of similar murder cases, if there is evidence showing that the minors involved exhibited characteristics of criminal responsibility at the time of the crime, even if they have not reached the legal age of criminal responsibility, they could still be prosecuted.