Boy, 13, accused of ‘brutal’ killing of 6-year-old days after China lowers age of criminal responsibility

A 13-year-old boy in China has been accused of brutally murdering a 6-year-old, days after the country lowered the age of criminal responsibility. 

The younger boy went missing on 17 February in Mianxian township in Shaanxi province, according to South China Morning Post. The police found his body at the house of another family in the same neighbourhood on 4 March, a notice from the local government said.

The boy’s father said there were multiple injuries on his body. “It was brutal. It was not an accident, but an intentional murder,” he said, according to South China Morning Post. 

The notice also said police investigation found the 13-year-old tricked the younger boy into his house on 17 February and allegedly murdered him. He also hid the body, the notice said.

In December, China lowered the age of criminal responsibility for some serious crimes from 14 to 12 and the changes came into effect on 1 March. 

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The amended law states that children aged 12 to 14 will be held criminally liable for “intentional homicide or intentional injury that leads to death or causes others severe disabilities by extremely cruel means.”

Fu Jian, a lawyer of Henna Yulong Law Firm, told the Yangtse Evening Post that the 13-year-old may not be held criminally responsible if he murdered the younger boy before 1 March.

The amendments came after a rise in juvenile crime was recorded from 2018 to 2019, according to a white paper by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the highest agency responsible for prosecution and investigation in China.

In 2019, a 13-year-old boy confessed to the murder of a 10-year-old girl and was given three years in “rehabilitation”. The case sparked outrage in China and triggered a debate over the age of criminal responsibility. 

Before the new changes took effect, those between the ages of 14 and 16 could be held criminally responsible for serious offences such as rape, robbery and intentional homicide. Those aged 13 and under were not held criminally responsible.