Chinese Teenager Gets Life Sentence for Classmate’s Brutal Murder
A Chinese court has sentenced a teenage boy to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of his 13-year-old classmate, sparking a national debate on the treatment of juvenile offenders in serious crimes.
The shocking incident, which took place in April, involved three boys under the age of 14 bullying their classmate, surnamed Wang, over an extended period before attacking him in an abandoned greenhouse. Wang was reportedly assaulted with a shovel before being buried, drawing widespread outrage.
On Monday, a court in Hebei province found one of the boys, surnamed Zhang, guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Another boy, surnamed Li, was handed a 12-year prison sentence, while the third boy, surnamed Ma, was sentenced to correctional education after being found not directly involved in harming the victim.
This case is one of the first to apply China’s 2021 amendment lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 for “special cases,” including murders involving “extremely cruel means.”
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“The means of the killing were particularly cruel, and the circumstances were particularly vile,” the prosecution stated.
According to Chinese law, murder is punishable by imprisonment or the death penalty. This case has reignited discussions on how the legal system should handle juvenile offenders while balancing punishment and rehabilitation.
