China hands lengthy jail terms to two teenagers for murdering classmate

A man walks along the road in the city of Handan in northern China's Hebei province on Feb. 28, 2024.

A court in northern China handed lengthy prison terms to two teenagers for murdering their classmate with a shovel in March, state media said on Monday, in a case that triggered heated public debate on juvenile delinquency.

The male suspects surnamed Zhang and Li were sentenced to life and 12 years in jail respectively for intentional homicide by a court in the city of Handan in the province of Hebei, CCTV said, but no motive was given.

The court found the methods of the killing "were particularly cruel, and the circumstances were particularly heinous," it added.

A third suspect surnamed Ma escaped with a sentence of "special correctional education," in line with the law, the broadcaster said. All three were aged 13 at the time of the murder.

They were detained the day after the body of the 13-year-old victim, surnamed Wang, was found on March 10, buried in a shallow pit in an abandoned greenhouse on the city's outskirts, state media said.

The court said Zhang bore principal responsibility for killing Wang with a shovel and initially devised the murder plan, while Li, his main accomplice, joined in the killing and subsequent burial.

Ma followed the pair to the site of the murder and witnessed the killing, but did not participate.

In 2021, China lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 12 from 14 for certain crimes, but kept minors exempt from the death penalty.

Suspects aged 12 to 14 may face criminal responsibility for serious crimes such as intentional homicide if the top prosecutor approves the charges.

At the time of the crime, state media said all four were the offspring of rural migrant workers who spend most of the year working in large cities, leaving grandparents and other relatives to care for their children.

Census data from 2020 shows such "left behind" children, as they are called, number nearly 67 million. Academic studies show they are at higher risk of suffering mental health issues, becoming victims of bullying and criminal behavior.

At the time, some social media commenters and lawyers had demanded the death penalty, saying minors had received inadequate punishment for serious crimes in recent years.

Reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Clarence Fernandez