Mentally disabled Chinese girl, 12, has second abortion in eight months
- Standards of care for children with disabilities questioned in Guangdong city of Xinyi
- Police appeal to public for any information
Authorities in a southern Chinese city are facing questions after a 12-year-old girl with an unspecified mental disability became pregnant for the second time in eight months.
The girl, identified by the pseudonym “Xiaowen”, was admitted to a hospital in Xinyi, Guangdong province, where an abortion was performed on Saturday. Police forensics officers are investigating.
According to online news portal Thepaper.cn, the girl was just over one month pregnant when her condition was discovered by her family, who immediately called in the police.
The girl had undergone a previous abortion in March. At that time, the family reported she had been raped by five or six men. Police had investigated six people, based on Xiaowen’s description, but failed to match DNA evidence with any of the accused.
Local police said in an official notice on messaging service WeChat that “due to restrictions, such as the victim’s limited ability to communicate, there were few leads and the case was being continuously investigated”. The notice said the latest case had been reported by the family in October.
“The police call for the culprit to turn himself in … as well as for the public to provide any information on the case,” it said.