Boy in China kills 6-year-old sister with nail gun by accident, father arrested & jailed
A 14-year-old boy in China accidentally killed his six-year-old sister with a homemade nail gun, leading to the arrest and imprisonment of their father.
The tragic incident occurred in Sichuan Province, where the children’s father had constructed an improvised firearm using a steel pipe and a nailer tool in 2015.
Source: Subas chandra Mahato on Canva, for illustration purposes only
Father built nail gun to hunt birds
According to reports, the man allegedly used the makeshift weapon for bird hunting before storing it at home.
On 16 July 2023, his two children were playing at home when the teenage boy found the nail gun.
While playing, the boy accidentally fired the gun, striking his younger sister in the right eye.
Paramedics pronounced the girl dead at the scene.
On 17 March 2024, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced that the father had been sentenced to three years in prison.
Source: pixelshot on Canva, for illustration purposes only
He additionally got four years of probation for illegally manufacturing firearms.
Netizens think sentence was too light
The sentencing sparked backlash among Chinese netizens, with many arguing that three years was too lenient for what they deemed an act of negligent homicide leading to a child’s death.
Translation: “The parents are responsible for negligent homicide and manufacturing a gun but only get three years?”
Source: Weibo
Others sympathised with the teenage boy, saying he would be burdened with guilt for the rest of his life.
Translation: You made this boy live with a lifetime of guilt in his heart.
Source: Weibo
One user also asked why the man was even shooting birds with nails in the first place.
They lamented that “retribution” for the animal cruelty hit the innocent child instead of the father.
Translation: Bird-hunting tools? Are you too free? Did the birds offend you? You’re sick! But how come retribution didn’t target this couple? The child was innocently implicated.
Source: Weibo
The Ministry’s statement also cited a similar case on 20 Jan 2023.
Two childhood friends of over 40 years went illegally hunting together using an improvised nail gun when one of them unintentionally shot and killed the other.
The remorseful offender received two and a half years in prison.
Also read: Boy in Thailand accidentally shoots himself with spear gun, cycles home with arrow stuck in neck
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