Daily Lesson from Life 29 April 2009

"Two in China detained over child rape

At least 10 girls were raped in Zhejiang province. -- Wed, Apr 29, 2009 AFP

BEIJING, China - A former village head and his business partner have been detained in eastern China for the alleged rape of teenage girls who were forced into a prostitution ring, state press said Wednesday.

Investigators said at least 10 girls were raped in Zhejiang province but locals said dozens of teenagers may have been violated by the attackers, who included businessmen, officials and civil servants, the China Daily said.

Former village head He Guobing and the 40-year-old owner of a karoke bar in Zhejiang's Lishui prefecture, Chen Weijun, have been detained and are awaiting trial, while more arrests are expected, the paper said.


A 15-year-old girl, who allegedly accepted 5,000 yuan (730 dollars) to arrange the rapes of several of her classmates, has also been detained and may face charges, it said.

One of the girls was reportedly forced into a car and taken to be raped.


The Lishui case came to light after a 13-year-old girl told her teacher she had been raped.
Some of the victims have reportedly had abortions, been infected with venereal diseases or made infertile, it said.

The case comes amid an apparent crackdown on childhood prostitution in China, which has included charging customers caught with under-age girls with rape.


Seven people in southwest China, including four government officials, went on trial this month on charges of raping schoolgirls, in crimes allegedly aided by a former prostitute."

Is this shocking? I have to say, sadly, that I am not surprised that such atrocity exists in this big country called China!

It is nevertheless sad to learn of people in authorities abusing their authorities and abusing the people they were supposed to take care of!

Lessons for me are:

1. being caught and get punished is not good enough a deterrent for people in authority who abused the people whom they are supposed to take care of! It has to come from the heart. That to be a leader is to serve the people and create a bigger benefit to them since they may not be able to or were not given the opportunity to do so!!;

2. the next best thing to do to the perpetrators is to punish them severely and made an example out of them so that anyone who wavered know the exact consequence for themselves if they try to tempt fate! If you cannot do it out of your own free will, you perhaps will do the right thing due to the fear of the punishment!;

3. when the crimes were revealed, I am glad that someone in proper authority DID take actions! Justice must be served for the disadvantaged who are normally the majority. When the minority so-called elites want to rule over the majority, they simply just has to ensure that the justice is served. Of course, for the elites, when they take up the leadership position, they MUST do so because they want to improve the lots of everyone. Not just themselves!

May those people be punished severely when and if they were found guilty. May those victims get the help they need from the government to help them grow out of this painful experience.