Boy who stabbed mother to death after she caught him smoking won't be charged, Chinese police say

A 12-year-old boy who stabbed his mother to death after she caught him smoking will face no punishment, Chinese police have said.

Wu Jiakang killed his 34-year-old mother Chen Xin during an argument at their family home in Yuanjiang, Hunan province, earlier this month.

A police report on the incident stated Wu had carried out the attack in retaliation after Chen used a belt to beat him after she found him smoking cigarettes.

However, instead of alerting authorities to what he had done, the boy instead used his dead mother’s phone to message his school, telling staff he would not be in school the following day as he had caught a cold.

Chen’s body was only discovered the following day when her father visited the home, the South China Morning Post reported.

When police arrived at the scene to conduct an investigation, Wu reportedly claimed his mother had tried to take her own life, despite the fact her body was covered in more than 20 stab wounds.

He later retracted his story under questioning by officers and admitted killing her in retribution for the punishment he received for smoking.

Wu was then released without charge nine days after the killing, due to Chinese laws meaning children under the age of 13 cannot be held criminally responsible.

However, dispute has now broken out between the boy’s relatives and the parents of his former classmates over whether he should be allowed to return to school.

An official from the Yuanjiang education bureau said as Wu would not be taken to a young offender’s institution as he was not between the ages of 14 and 18.

Professor Pi Yijun, a juvenile delinquency expert at China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, told the South China Morning Post the situation surrounding the boy was in a legal grey area.

“In my opinion, in this case, the other parents have good reason to be afraid,” the professor said.

“It’s unsuitable to send someone as dangerous as [Wu] is to school … We can’t erase such an intentional wrongdoing for the sake of protecting a child’s rights.

“The management of juveniles like Wu is a big mess. There should be a place specifically designed for them.”