Shenzhen Police Smashes Groups Organizing Minors To Commit Crimes (Photo : Getty Images)
User of Weibo, a microblogging site in China similar to Twitter, are debating on the pixilation of photos of suspects arrested for the kidnapping of a five-year-old girl on Jan. 3.
Three full-faced photos of the nine men who were arrested had Chinese characters on their foreheads that reads "pixilated." Some net users say that the faces of the suspects were pixilated, while others state that they saw the Chinese characters.
The incident has sparked debate on the use of digital tools such as pixilation to mask the face of child-trafficking criminals. Some believe the faces of these suspects should be exposed so the public would be forewarned, while others believe it violates the privacy of those arrested, reports Women of China.
Anhui Police insist that they did not pixilate the faces of the suspects who the authorities say could be recidivists. By publicizing their photos, the police hope that Chinese would recognize the suspects to help placate parents' concern over the safety of their children.
On the other hand, Jungrun Law Firm lawyer Han Xiao points out that while there are no specific rules on pixilation of suspects' faces, the country's constitution and Criminal Procedure mandates respect and protection for human rights. However, Han adds that if the suspects are at large and would likely commit more crimes, their photos could be placed in wanted posters to help capture them.
Anhui Police say the decision to pixelate suspect's faces is up to the local authorities to decide.
As of Friday, the kidnap victim was rescued by Anhui police on Wednesday 56 hours after she was abducted. The suspects were arrested in Hebei Province. The victim, Yiran, was playing with her elder brother on Sunday in front of their house in Taihe County when the two suspects aboard a motorcycle pretended to ask for directions.
They then abducted the girl and brought her 600 kilometers away from Anhui Province to She County, Handan City, Hebei. Police arrested the suspects at 11 p.m. on Tuesday and returned Yiran to her family at about 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Kidnapping of children is a lucrative business in China.
