Sentencing given in child abduction case in Shenzhen

A defendant surnamed Wu was sentenced to five years in prison for the crime of kidnapping two children, while another one also surnamed Wu was sentenced to two years in prison for concealing evidence of the crime, according to a verdict by the Nanshan District People's Court in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on Friday.

This is a case that has drawn great attention nationwide after one of the kidnapped children, named Sun Zhuo, united with his parents in 2021 after 14 years apart.

Before that, another kidnapped child, Fu Jiantao, had also been returned to his family.

The court also ordered the primary criminal, Wu, to compensate the families of the kidnapped children for their losses in the amount of 420,000 yuan ($57,500) each.

Wu kidnapped the two children in 2007 in Shenzhen's Nanshan district, when they were both under 14 years old, and then hid them at the residence of his accomplice, according to the court.

Subsequently, Wu handed the victims over to his fellow villagers or relatives for foster care.

Sun Haiyang, father of the kidnapped child Sun Zhuo, was emotional as he exited the courtroom on Friday afternoon, thinking the sentence was too light, according to a report by the news website ThePaper.

He said the sentence was not enough for deterring traffickers from doing similar crimes, adding that his family will lodge a protest against the judgment.