Reports of forced child-begging probed

Authorities in Dongguan, Guangdong province, vowed to investigate recent media reports that criminal gangs were disabling abducted children and forcing them to become street beggars, said a senior government official.

"The city's public security department, urban management and civil affairs bureau have promised to work together to investigate these alleged crimes after holding a joint conference on Tuesday," said Yang Dongru, director of the Dongguan bureau of civil affairs.

Over the weekend, TV and newspaper reports revealed that many people, including children, were allegedly sold to criminal gangs in Dongguan and intentionally injured, even disabled, by gang members to work as beggars in the streets of Dongguan. Most of the victims were formerly homeless people or children abducted from their hometowns before they were sold to the city's gangs.