Ayi Saves Boy From Potential Kidnappers in Chongwenmen
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A
probable child abduction attempt was thwarted in Chongwenmen last week,
thanks to the quick thinking of a woman employed as an ayi by the child's family.
The story was shared with our sister publication beijingkids
by the boy's father, a prominent member of Beijing’s international
community. He says that he has shared his story in the hope of warning
other families about the dangers of child abduction and to prevent any
future incidents. Names have been withheld for safety reasons.
“There’s
a communal area just outside the shopping mall nearby where we live and
all the kids play there in the evening,” the father told us. The man's
son was approached by a young man who was holding a cheap toy, and
succeeded in engaging the boy in conversation.
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“The ayi saw
this and didn’t take that much notice, because my son is quite a
sociable guy. Then she noticed there was about half a dozen people
moving around and getting closer [to my son]: six young guys, and a
middle-aged guy and middle-aged woman."
According to the father,
the young man then began to use his phone, possibly to call a car in
order to pick up the boy. At this point, the ayi, suspecting that the group of people may be planning to abduct the boy, quickly brought him inside to safety.
While
a tragedy may have been avoided this time, the family are taking
measures to try and find the would-be kidnappers. “We’re [currently
talking to] the police and the mall security because the area has
cameras,” the father said. He suggested parents should be particularly
vigilant while their children play in public spaces and to review family
safety and 'stranger danger' policies with their ayi.
The ayi in question has since been rewarded for her vigilance. “Yes, she just had a hongbao!” the child's father reported.
Tragically,
child abductions are a common occurrence in China, where victims are
kidnapped by a third party gang, and then either raised by the person
who hired the abductor, sold to another family, or put to work on the
streets by gangs as beggars.
Child kidnapping may be seen as an
extreme response to childlessness in a society where children are seen
as a financial safety net in old age. However, this is the first report
of an attempt at kidnapping targeted at the international community that beijingkids is
aware of since 2011, when there was concern about predatory attacks on
teenage girls. We continue to caution against circulating reports of
kidnapped children on WeChat when the source cannot be verified.
READ: Eats Shoots, and Leaves: Two Women Busted After Uprooting Entire Beijing Bamboo Forest
This article originally appeared on our sister publication beijingkids.
Photo: avontuura.com
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