A nine-year-old girl in China’s Henan province recently made headlines for allegedly stealing a home safe during a visit to a friend’s house and smashing it open to take the money for snacks.
Source: China.com
According to reports, the incident occurred on Friday (15 Aug) when the daughter of Mr Lu, the safe owner, invited the girl over to play.
After some time, the girl said she wanted to go home, and the two children agreed to meet again in the future.
Later that day, Mr Lu discovered that the family safe, which contained about 20,000 yuan (roughly S$3,600) in cash and three important IOUs related to a debt dispute, was missing.
Upon reviewing security footage, he found that the girl had carried the safe in a bag and walked down 15 floors via the stairs rather than taking the elevator.
Source: China.com
When confronted, the girl initially claimed she had thrown the safe away.
Police later located the safe, which had been retrieved by a waste collector.
The IOUs were also recovered from the trash.
After police questioning, the girl admitted to smashing the safe with a stone to access the money, which she used to buy snacks.
She also gave 1,000 yuan (S$180) to her brother.
However, Mr Lu noticed that the safe had actually been forced open with a tool, rather than smashed with a stone.
Source: China.com
The girl eventually returned 2,000 yuan (S$360), and with the money given to her brother, a total of just over 3,000 yuan (approximately S$540) was recovered.
Still, Mr Lu insisted that there had originally been 20,000 yuan inside the safe.
The girl’s family disputed the claim that she had taken the full amount, as there was no way to verify the exact sum.
Her father said he wasn’t sure how much money his daughter had taken but was certain it wasn’t as much as 20,000 yuan.
He also questioned how Mr Lu could accuse his daughter of taking all the missing money when the safe had been removed by a waste collector.
Later, the girl’s father offered an apology on her behalf and expressed a willingness to discuss compensation for the stolen money.
However, his seemingly nonchalant attitude towards his daughter’s behaviour sparked criticism on social media, with many calling for proper discipline and correction.
Also read: Girl in China spends S$12K of parents’ savings on livestream gifts, police retrieve funds
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Featured image adapted from China.com.