‘She just wants me dead’: Chinese man kidnaps own grandchild to pay off US$72,500 in gambling debts, blames daughter for his crimes
- Gambling-addicted grandpa kidnaps his own granddaughter and makes ransom demand to his daughter
- 65-year-old is jailed for extortion and after initially blaming daughter for his crimes, is now trying to patch up their relationship
A Chinese grandfather addicted to gambling has shocked millions of people on mainland social media by kidnapping his own granddaughter.
According to a report in a law journal in China’s largest city, Shanghai, the 65-year-old, surnamed Yuan, committed the outrageous crime to support his addiction.
It began when Yuan picked up his four-year-old granddaughter from school.
Behaving like a kidnapper, he told the little girl’s mother, his own daughter: “You won’t see your daughter again unless you give me 500,000 yuan (US$72,500) in three days.”
So desperate was he for cash, he even threatened to kill his own daughter. However, she called the police and her father was arrested. He was subsequently jailed for extortion.
However, while in prison, Yuan tried to exonerate himself by blaming his daughter: “I’m 65 years old and my daughter is suing me. She never wants me to get better. She just wants me dead.”