Authorities in East China’s Jiangxi Province were successful in a rescue operation which aimed to retrieve 10 abductees from a local gang which profited from the sale of mentally disabled women.
The victims were reportedly trafficked from South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong Province, and then brought to Shandong Province to the east.
Since becoming active in 2013, the group has amassed a total of 600,000 yuan (US$ 95,000) in illegal proceeds.
Police were tipped off by the peculiar behavior of a train passenger heading to Shandong on Feb. 8.
According to the report, the woman showed signs of mental abnormality and authorities eventually suspected she was abducted. Police officers then proceeded to track the victim, who led them to two suspects surnamed Fu and Fan.
Upon capture, the two immediately confessed that they bought the woman from Luzhai County in Guangxi for 10,000 yuan.
In intensifying their efforts in cracking down on the syndicate, the police found more victims held in a pig farm in Shandong. According to Sun, a local resident who opened the farm, most of the buyers were local elderly men who sought the women for childbearing purposes.
The police also state that family members of the victims usually did not report the abductions since they did not intend to continue shouldering the expense and burden for taking care of the mentally handicapped.
As a result, authorities have called for an improvement in the legal system and in social security to safeguard the rights and interests of the mentally disabled women and their family members.