Recently, various conflicts in Chinese society, including family conflicts, have become increasingly prominent, and the overall hostility in society is growing. This environment has led to many children becoming victims, even at the hands of their own biological parents. Not long ago, a woman from mainland China ended the lives of her two young daughters with her own hands in Taiwan.
The 34-year-old woman, surnamed Jian, married a Taiwanese man who was doing business in mainland China 11 years ago. Her husband, surnamed Bai, is 13 years older than her. The couple settled in Hunan after marriage and had two daughters, aged 9 and 10 at the time of the tragedy. This seemed like a seemingly normal family, and they had visited the husband’s parents in Taiwan several times together.
In July last year, the family of four moved back to Taiwan and lived with the mother-in-law in an apartment in Zhonghe District, New Taipei City. Despite the grandmother’s adoration for the two granddaughters, Jian often clashed with her due to different lifestyles. Jian, who did not understand Taiwanese dialect, often thought that the grandmother was speaking ill of her. Over time, the resentment in Jian’s heart deepened.
On the morning of July 2nd this year, after Jian got up and met her mother-in-law outside her room, resentment surged within her. She questioned her mother-in-law, “Why are you treating me so badly?” The mother-in-law responded in a dialect that Jian didn’t understand, leading Jian to believe that she was being scolded. Fueled by anger, Jian took her two daughters out with her.
The three of them took a taxi from their neighborhood to Bitan Scenic Area. Jian led her daughters into the water under the pretext of taking photos for them, but suddenly let go of their hands, allowing the water to carry them away. The two girls, who were not adept swimmers, struggled in the water and tragically lost their lives.
Alone, Jian swam back to shore and lingered near the scenic area without leaving. The next evening, she returned to the same spot attempting to take her own life, but hesitated out of inner fear after a long while. She walked to a nearby police station to report the disappearance of her daughters and requested police assistance. Soon after, the bodies of the two young girls were found floating in the water among the bushes on the shore.
The news reached the school where the two daughters attended, shocking and saddening both the teachers and students. Both girls were known to get along well with their classmates, with the younger sister being a studious student. Neighbors also described the two girls as well-behaved and lovely.
Currently, the Taipei District Court has determined that Jian is suspected of committing murder and committing intentional murder of children as an adult, with significant criminal charges, and has ordered her detention.
Similarly, a few months ago, a similar incident occurred in Chongqing, China.
On the morning of April 1st, a shocking incident took place in Banan District, Chongqing. A viral video showed a woman with long hair dragging a child to the window ledge of a high-rise residential building. The child’s body was dangling perilously outside, in a very dangerous situation.
The child gripped the window frame tightly with small hands, trying to push themselves back inside, but the woman repeatedly pushed the child out of the window. Despite neighbors shouting from afar for her to stop, the woman paid no heed.
In the video, an elderly woman was also present next to the woman, yet for some reason, she stood by silently without intervention.
The woman’s erratic behavior alarmed residents in the neighborhood. Firefighters arrived in time and set up a safety air cushion below. Upon seeing this, the woman pulled the child back inside. However, she then turned and threw the child out of another window where there was no safety cushion below. The video captured neighbors screaming in horror.
The woman lived on the 22nd floor, and the fate of the child was tragic. Witnesses saw the woman kiss the child before throwing them out, possibly as a final farewell.
It was reported that the woman often quarreled with her mother-in-law, and the morning of the incident, they had another argument. The woman first injured her mother-in-law with a kitchen knife and then threw the child off the high floor. Prior to this, she also threw down various objects such as chairs, blankets, and cotton filling.
The woman had two sons, and the three-year-old toddler was the one thrown off the building. She also intended to throw her older son but did not go through with it. As she was about to jump off the building herself, rescue personnel broke in and pulled her back.
According to the police report, the woman, surnamed He, 37 years old, was in a sudden manic episode that day. Investigations revealed that the woman had been displaying recent “abnormal mental behaviors,” and the case is under further investigation.
In September two years ago, a man in Lianjiang County, Guangdong Province, went mad and threw his two children into the river.
According to the informant, a man surnamed Lin was fond of gambling, lazy, and often physically abused his wife. Unable to bear the situation, his wife divorced him several years ago and raised the four children on her own.
Despite the divorce, Lin frequently asked his ex-wife for money. Out of fear of his violent nature, she sometimes had to comply with his demands. However, despite Lin’s repeated requests for reconciliation, she refused and even avoided him.
Later, the ex-wife found a new partner, which angered Lin. He threatened his ex-wife that if she dared to remarry, he would throw all four children into the river. Believing he was just bluffing, she didn’t take it seriously, thinking he wouldn’t harm his own flesh and blood.
However, on September 18th, Lin took the four children out under the pretext of going to the county town. He bought ice cream for the children at a convenience store. While the children were eating, Lin successively threw two of them into the river. As he was about to throw the third child, a passing truck driver noticed and intervened. People came together to subdue Lin, alert the authorities, but unfortunately, the two children had already drowned. These two children were the second and third in the family, aged 11 and 6. Local residents were outraged, condemning the man as worse than a beast.
On November 2, 2020, in Chongqing, a 2-and-a-half-year-old girl named XueXue, and her 1-and-a-half-year-old brother YangYang, tragically fell to their deaths from their 15th-floor home.
After the children fell, their father Zhang ran downstairs in slippers and pajamas, crying uncontrollably, expressing confusion about why the children fell. Many initially thought the children accidentally fell from a windowsill, sparking discussions online about enhancing home safety measures.
However, after the mother, Chen, calmed down from her grief, she began to suspect foul play. The windowsill at home was high, the children were only 2 and a half years old, and it was unlikely they climbed up there themselves. While one fall could be called an accident, why did both children fall at the same time? Zhang was usually at work, but on the day of the incident, he had taken a day off. The children were usually looked after by their grandmother, who was absent at the time of the incident.
After a month of anguish and confusion, Chen received a message from the authorities, revealing that the children’s deaths were not accidental but intentional murder by Zhang. Additionally, Zhang colluded with another woman, Ye. Ye was a third party who caused disturbances in Zhang and Chen’s marriage.
Zhang and Chen were married in August 2017, divorced in February 2020 due to Zhang’s affair with Ye in 2019. The divorce agreement granted full custody of the children to Chen, with the stipulation that the youngest son YangYang would be temporarily raised by Zhang until the age of 6, due to Chen’s mother’s cancer.
After the divorce, Ye demanded that Zhang have no children if they were to continue their relationship. This meant that Zhang’s children must disappear from the world. Shockingly, Zhang agreed to this request.
Since the divorce, Zhang and Ye conspired to eliminate the two children. In order to “solve” both of them at once, they planned to bring XueXue, who usually lived with Chen, into the situation. Zhang tricked XueXue to come over three times for this purpose, yet he failed twice due to inconvenient circumstances. It wasn’t until November 2, 2020, when Zhang’s mother wasn’t home, that he finally took action.
While tragedies of parents killing their own children may be considered individual cases linked to psychological or mental issues, these incidents becoming more commonplace signify a societal issue.
Independent writer Zhu Ge Mingyang expressed to Dajiyuan, “Today, in China under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, life is very challenging, with immense pressures leading to mental disorders. Family conflicts may become outlets for people to vent. Without ethical and moral constraints, some individuals may lose their humanity for personal gain or in a moment of anger, resulting in creating scenes of human tragedies that harm themselves, destroy families, and contribute to the growing hostility in society.”
(Reporter Ningxin contributed to this report)