Stolen Chicken Leg (Photo : YouTube)
To commemorate International Children's Day on June 1, a lot of Chinese netizens took part in the initiative launched by Tencent for people to post their childhood photos and recreate it as adults.
However, Liu Jinxia, a poor mother from Xuanwu District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, opted to commemorate that day by giving her two sick children a chicken leg and two children’s books. But Liu Jinxia only had 5 yuan ($0.76) which was not enough to buy any of the two items, reported Global Times.
She instead stole them from a supermarket on Tuesday but was caught by security. When arrested by police, the woman shared that the chicken leg was a request of her sick daughter, 7-year-old Dashuang, who was in the hospital due to kidney ailment.
Dashuang’s twin was also sick, so the family used up their savings, while the children’s father abandoned them when he could no longer afford to pay for their hospital bills.
Pan Shunqin, the police who apprehended Liu Jinxia, described the mother with a golden heart as “the most touching thief I have ever caught in my career,” in a WeChat post. No charges were filed against Liu Jinxia who was instead made to undergo education and then was released.
According to the Straitstimes, the chicken leg cost 7 yuan and the book “Three Character Primer” cost 19 yuan each. Since the total amount involved of the shoplifted items was 45 yuan and the law placed a minimum amount of 100 yuan to be considered a criminal act, no charges were filed.
The officer’s sharing touched the hearts of Chinese netizens who shared the story of the woman and her daughters using the hashtag #the saddest Children’s Day present# which got 11 million views on Weibo.
More important than becoming viral, the incident led netizens to donate money to the family. The funds raised has reached, so far, 800,000 yuan in just two days which Liu Jinxia would use to treat Dashuang.
