Chinese court upholds sentence in child trafficking case that inspired movie ‘Lost and Love’

The Supreme People’s Court of Shandong Province in eastern China upheld the original verdict against Hu Fuji and Tang Lixia on October 30, 2024. Hu was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension, and Tang was sentenced to life imprisonment for child trafficking. photo by CCTV

A court in eastern China’s Shandong Province upheld the initial verdict of defendants Hu Fuji and Tang Lixia, who were sentenced to two years’ suspension and life imprisonment for kidnapping and selling children. In 1997, they were involved in the kidnapping of a 2-year-old boy whose father had traveled across China on a motorcycle for 24 years in search of his son, inspiring the film. Loss and LoveAccording to China Central Television on Wednesday.

According to the report, the Shandong Provincial Supreme People’s Court rejected Hu and Tang’s objections.

According to the decision of the Liaocheng Intermediate People’s Court on December 27, 2023, Hu was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension, and Tang was sentenced to life imprisonment for child trafficking.

In 1997 and 1998, Hu and Tang kidnapped and trafficked four children. The court found that Hu, along with other accomplices, kidnapped and trafficked her fifth child in 2001.

In the decision, it was stated that both defendants were deprived of their political rights for life and all their personal property was confiscated. According to the decision, they were also ordered to pay the plaintiffs 500,000 yuan ($70,068) in compensation.

Both later appealed. According to media reports, an appeal hearing was held at the Shandong Province Supreme People’s Court on August 22 this year.

movie in 2015 Loss and Love The film, which tells the story of a father’s motorcycle journey across the country to find his kidnapped son, touched audiences across the country. According to media reports, the film was based on the true story of Guo Gangtang from Liaocheng, Shandong, who spent years searching for his kidnapped son.

In 2021, the Ministry of Public Security launched a national campaign focused primarily on combating human trafficking and searching for missing relatives. The case of the kidnapped Guo was identified as the key case. According to the CCTV report, in June 2021, Guo’s son was finally found.

In an interview with cnr.cn, Guo expressed hope that Hu would receive the death penalty, while acknowledging that Hu may have kidnapped other children. Guo hopes Hu’s guilt or increased public awareness will lead to more information about his crimes, help find more kidnapped children and reunite families, according to a report by news portal cnr.cn on Tuesday, a day before the retrial.

Global Times