A teenager was sentenced to life in prison for killing his classmate on Monday ( Dec. 30 ), capsing a case that sparked a national debate over the treatment of juvenile offenders.
Three offenders, all aged under 14 at the time of the death, were accused in April of bullying a 13-year-old student surnamed Wang over a long period before killing him in an abandoned house.
The gloomy details of the case, where the murders allegedly shovel-armed Wang before burying his brain, attracted the attention of the public as a result of the investigation into how the law treats minors charged with serious crimes.
One child surnamed Zhang, was found guilty of purposeful killing, a jury in northwest China’s Hebei said on Monday.
Another child, identified as Li, served a 12-year sentence. The jury awarded the second boy, Ma, a surname that did not harm the victim, and was given a sentence to custodial education.
China reduced the penalty time for” special circumstances” like inflicting dying by “extremely cruel methods” from 14 to 12 in 2021.
The Hebei event, according to some, was the first to use the lower age cap.
According to the prosecution’s conviction, the defendants were “over the age of 12 but under the age of 14 at the time of the offense… they should keep legal duty” in accordance with Chinese rules.
It added that the conditions were “particularly nasty” and the means of the shooting were “particularly callous.”
Crime is punished by imprisonment or the death penalty under Chinese rules.