拐孩子 guai haizi (abducting children)

bodawei

May 18, 2011, 07:29 AM posted in General Discussion

Just watched a program on CCTV called 重拳打拐 zhòngquán dǎguǎi ('heavy fist' attack on abduction) - focusing on child abduction. A lengthy (about 30 minutes) interview with the head of the 公安 (police) section, I think in Yunnan, based on the credits that flashed up at the end. 

We see the parents who have lost children, displaying signs in public about their children and the circumstances of their disappearance. (It seemed to me that all the cases shown were poor families - it is unlike the 'typical' abduction in the West where the abductors are seeking money for the child's return.) 

We see the police swooping on houses where the children are kept - presumably on a tip-off (I missed what was said about 'investigations' in detail.)  One such raid was said to happen just a couple of weeks ago so the program is up to date.

The perpetrators are also poor-looking, typically submissive, and then they are shown confessing their crimes; it is caught on camera in great detail. You don't see any possible softening up prior to confession - other than you see the abductors sitting in chairs with shackles while they are questioned.  The people arrested, both men and women, seem to just collapse when the police appear, offer their arms for the handcuffs, and start wailing.) 

The names and personal details of the perpetrators are shown to the viewer, with photos. My recollection is that one of the captors has a given name 难况 - it seems the name may have been self-fulfilling.    

The film describes in some detail risky situations in which children could be taken (eg. while mother does some shopping; while children are playing in the street with friends; while mother changes her clothes). The children seem to be kept in good health while with their captors - when recovered they seem to look well fed and clothed. (I assume that they are sold - if they convered this aspect I missed it - incentive for the kidnappers to look after the children well.) 

The 公安 (police) use DNA tests to restore the children to their parents; sometimes they are gone for years. But it is heart-wrenching to see the parents of young children when the children apprently don't remembr them immediately. The older children seem more damaged by the experience.  I heard one reference to what seemed to be that one child was 'made a wife'.