Chinese court sentences teenager to life in prison for killing classmate

A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a 13-year-old boy to life imprisonment for killing his classmate.

The sentencing closed the case which generated a national debate over the treatment of juvenile offenders in the Asian nation.

Three suspects, all aged under 14 at the time of the incident
were accused in April of bullying a 13-year-old classmate surnamed Wang over a long period before killing him in an abandoned greenhouse.

The killers reportedly attacked Wang with a shovel, killed him and buried his body.

One boy surnamed Zhang, was found guilty of intentional homicide.

Another boy surnamed Li was given 12 years in jail.

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The third boy surnamed Ma, whom the court found did not harm the victim, was sentenced to correctional education.

China had in 2021 lowered its age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 for “special cases” such as inflicting death by “extremely cruel means.”

The Hebei case was thought to be one of the first to apply the lower age limit.

The prosecution said in its verdict that because the defendants were “over the age of 12 but under the age of 14 at the time of the crime should bear “criminal responsibility” in accordance with Chinese law.

It added that means of the killing were “particularly cruel, and the circumstances were particularly vile.”

Murder, under Chinese law, is punishable by imprisonment or the death penalty.

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