‘Left-behind children’ found stabbed to death in southern China
Two children of migrant worker living away from home latest vulnerable youngsters to die violently in an impoverished area of Guizhou province
Two children of a migrant worker living away from home have been found murdered in the same area of China where the suicide of four other “left-behind children” shocked the nation earlier this year, official media reported.
Left-behind children are those who stay in their home villages while their parents are working in cities, often far way. Tragedies involving negligence and abuse of these “virtual orphans” make headlines from time to time.
Zhang Yunyu, 15, and her brother Zhang Yunhai, 12, were found dead with stab wounds on Tuesday morning at their home in a village near Bijie in Guizhou province, Xinhua reported.
The pair lived with their sister, Zhang Yunzhuo, 17, while their father was away working as a mason in the city of Guiyang. Their mother and grandparents had died.
The older sister spent Monday night at a relative’s home and found the bodies the next morning, the report said.
The tragedy happened two months after four rural children of the same city, one boy and three girls aged five to 13, who lived alone in poverty, killed themselves by drinking pesticide. Their father was working away from home.