China parents lynch book salesman

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

As gossip spread that a gang was trying to ensnare the young pupils, parents surrounded and set upon the men.

Child smuggling gangs have preyed on Chinese children for years.

Boys, particularly toddlers, can fetch 30,000 yuan ($6,100) on the black market. Girls fetch much less, around the equivalent of $500, according to media reports.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8327219.stm

[Stepbrow]

It seems to be a sign of the times that parents must be very diligent in watching their children, not only in China but in the US. When I was a boy, I would be gone from home playing with friends for hours. No one worried. It was safe then.

 

It would be a real tragedy if the Chinese book sellers were legitimate. If not murder and assault were caused by fear alone.

[knloregon]

anyone come across the Xinhua version of this? I'm not finding it..

[dnoblett]

anyone come across the Xinhua version of this? I'm not finding it..

Google is your friend.

 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/...nt_12335121.htm

[knloregon]

Yeah, just found it on China Daily.... (regional)

 

 

CHINA> Regional

 

Abduction jitter escalates into deadly fight

HANGZHOU: Three people have been detained for beating a book salesman to death and injuring four of his colleagues, who were mistaken for human traffickers, at a primary school in east China's Zhejiang Province, local police said Tuesday.

 

Police also said fears from a recent abduction and murdering case at the Chumen Primary School in Yuhuan County were behind Monday's attack.

 

Related readings:

Buying cheap goods may support human trafficking

Taiwan woman arrested over human trafficking

18 people detained in child trafficking cases

50 kids rescued in US sex trafficking raid

 

The incident took place early Monday morning when the five salesmen were handing out leaflets about a lecture at the Chumen Primary School, said Weng Zhengui, deputy director of the Yuhuan Public Security Bureau, at a press conference Tuesday.

When school officials inquired about their identities, they were reluctant to answer questions and would not reveal their purpose, Weng said.

 

Their behavior aroused abduction fears among school officials and parents, as a pupil at the school had been kidnapped and murdered late September, Weng said.

 

"Although the case has already been cracked, parents have not got over the scare," he said.

 

A school official then called the police, but rumors had begun spreading that the salesmen were human traffickers and were trying to abduct the pupils.

 

About 300 parents and passers-by surrounded the five people who were staying at the school's reception room then. Some of them lost temper and broke into the reception room to beat them, Weng said.

 

Almost 100 police officers were dispatched to control the situation, he said. The five salesmen were later rescued by officers and sent to a local hospital. One of them, identified as Wang Xu, died at the hospital, and the other four were still being treated.

 

Of the three suspects detained, one was the parent of a school pupil and the other two were passers-by, Weng said.

 

The five salesmen, along with three other colleagues, drove from Ningbo to Yuhuan Monday to hold a lecture and sell books, he said.

 

Local police are further investigating the case, he added.

 

Copyright By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved

[GDBILL]

Yeah, just found it on China Daily.... (regional)

 

 

CHINA> Regional

 

Abduction jitter escalates into deadly fight

HANGZHOU: Three people have been detained for beating a book salesman to death and injuring four of his colleagues, who were mistaken for human traffickers, at a primary school in east China's Zhejiang Province, local police said Tuesday.

 

Police also said fears from a recent abduction and murdering case at the Chumen Primary School in Yuhuan County were behind Monday's attack.

 

Related readings:

Buying cheap goods may support human trafficking

Taiwan woman arrested over human trafficking

18 people detained in child trafficking cases

50 kids rescued in US sex trafficking raid

 

The incident took place early Monday morning when the five salesmen were handing out leaflets about a lecture at the Chumen Primary School, said Weng Zhengui, deputy director of the Yuhuan Public Security Bureau, at a press conference Tuesday.

When school officials inquired about their identities, they were reluctant to answer questions and would not reveal their purpose, Weng said.

 

Their behavior aroused abduction fears among school officials and parents, as a pupil at the school had been kidnapped and murdered late September, Weng said.

 

"Although the case has already been cracked, parents have not got over the scare," he said.

 

A school official then called the police, but rumors had begun spreading that the salesmen were human traffickers and were trying to abduct the pupils.

 

About 300 parents and passers-by surrounded the five people who were staying at the school's reception room then. Some of them lost temper and broke into the reception room to beat them, Weng said.

 

Almost 100 police officers were dispatched to control the situation, he said. The five salesmen were later rescued by officers and sent to a local hospital. One of them, identified as Wang Xu, died at the hospital, and the other four were still being treated.

 

Of the three suspects detained, one was the parent of a school pupil and the other two were passers-by, Weng said.

 

The five salesmen, along with three other colleagues, drove from Ningbo to Yuhuan Monday to hold a lecture and sell books, he said.

 

Local police are further investigating the case, he added.

 

Copyright By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved

 

Mob hysteria and vigilanteism ... not uncommon at all in China, but usually seen more in small cities and towns.