Wearing a purple long-sleeved shirt and dark jeans, Shen Junliang participated in the second instance of the Guangdong High Court on the child trafficking case.
A year ago, he also came to Zengcheng, Guangzhou to pick up his 15-year abducted son Shen Cong wearing this "decent" costume bought for him by his younger brother.
Shen Cong was one of the victims in this abduction and trafficking case involving "Aunt Mei".
At the first instance, the plaintiffs Shen Junliang and his wife in the incidental civil lawsuit claimed 3 million yuan from the five defendants, which was rejected by the Guangzhou Intermediate Court.
After appealing to the Guangdong High Court, Shen Junliang and his wife submitted new bills and other evidence, and the amount of the claim was adjusted to more than 4.81 million yuan.
Before the trial on March 26, the defendant’s defense lawyer communicated with Shen Junliang, stating that the prerequisite for negotiating compensation is to obtain a “letter of understanding”.
This caused Shen Junliang to struggle for a while, but in the end he still did not agree, "If it is for the money to forgive the traffickers, what would the netizens think of me?"
Searching for children across provinces, prosecuting "traffickers", and raising a family, the middle-aged Shen Junliang had a hard time passing these years.
After retrieving Shen Cong, he felt that "happy days are like dreams"; the pressure of being able to pay off debts and raising his three sons made him often sleepless at night and "sweat all over".
The second-instance claim provides new evidence, and the principal offender has paid 200,000 yuan
In this case of child trafficking, known as the "Aunt Mei case," the second instance was the same as the first instance, and the venue of the hearing was arranged at the court in Zengcheng District, Guangzhou City.
After the trial ended on the afternoon of March 26, Shen Junliang was in a good mood.
He patiently answered questions from reporters at the entrance of the court, and then took a photo with the attorney. Behind him is the magnificent new court building. Three years ago, the Zengcheng Court was still in an old building in an alley.
When the case was first heard in 2017, Shen Junliang, who was in court, always had a face of grief, anger and anxiety.
At that time, his abducted son did not know where.
Shen Cong was only 1 year old when he was abducted.
That year, Shen Junliang worked in a company in Zengcheng, Guangzhou.
During the day he went to work in the company, and his wife Yu Xiaoli took the children in the rental house.
The day of the accident was January 4, 2005.
The first-instance judgment of the Guangzhou Intermediate Court showed that Shen Cong was abducted by Guizhouese Zhou Rongping, Yang Chaoping, Liu Zhenghong, and Chen Shoubi. Two of them broke into the house with transparent glue and chili water. They will be bound by Xiaoli and forced to hug them. Shen Cong walking on the bed.
After that, Zhou Rongping handed Shen Cong to his fellow Zhang Weiping, who contacted the buyer through the middleman "Aunt Mei".
After his son disappeared, Shen Junliang embarked on a long road to find a son.
In March 2016, 11 years after the incident, five "traffickers" Zhou Rongping and Zhang Weiping were arrested by the police, and "Aunt Mei" has not been brought to justice.
In December 2018, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court made a first-instance judgment, and the five defendants were found guilty of the crime of child abduction and a total of 9 abducted children were involved.
Zhang Weiping and Zhou Rongping were sentenced to death, Yang Chaoping and Liu Zhenghong were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Chen Shoubi was sentenced to ten years in prison.
During the first instance, Shen Cong's father, Shen Junliang, and his wife filed an incidental civil lawsuit, demanding compensation of 3 million yuan from each defendant, but the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court rejected their claims for compensation.
"The whereabouts of the victim, Shen Mou, is still unknown, and his losses cannot be ascertained at this time." The court of first instance also pointed out in the judgment that the plaintiff in the attached civil lawsuit did not provide relevant evidence such as medical bills, and the litigation request was insufficient.
After the verdict was pronounced in the first instance, both Shen Junliang and the 5 defendants filed an appeal.
The total amount of civil compensation filed by Shen Junliang and Yu Xiaoli on appeal is more than 4.81 million yuan, including more than 200,000 yuan of direct loss of transportation, accommodation, and material printing for 15 years of finding a child, and more than 1.27 million yuan of non-voucher expenses in the process of finding a child. , Lost work expenses of more than 2.33 million yuan, Yu Xiaoli's schizophrenia treatment fee of 80,000 yuan, and mental comfort money of 500,000 yuan.
During the second instance, Shen Junliang supplemented and submitted documents related to injuries and missed work.
"The victim Shen Cong has been found and confirmed his biological parents, so there is no problem with the litigation subject of the Shen Junliang and his wife." According to the attorney Liu Chang, the appeal submitted a bill to prove the relevant losses. In addition, according to the regulations, Although the plaintiff in the incidental civil lawsuit did not provide evidence to prove it, the losses incurred by the defendant, such as transportation expenses, accommodation expenses, and lost work expenses, may be compensated by the defendant as appropriate.
According to Liu Chang and several people who participated in the trial, Zhang Weiping and Zhou Rongping, five appellants (defendants in the original trial), did not question the relevant bills and other evidence submitted by Shen Junliang and his wife.
Before the trial, a defense lawyer communicated with Shen Junliang on compensation matters, provided that Shen Junliang issued a "criminal understanding."
After thinking about it, Shen Junliang finally did not agree.
The bill presented by the court at the second instance indicated that before the trial, Zhou Rongping, one of the principal criminals sentenced to death in the first instance, remitted 200,000 yuan for civil compensation to the court through his family.
Three sons, one family, one heavy burden
During the trial on March 26, Shen Junliang couldn't help crying again.
As the plaintiff in the incidental civil lawsuit in the first instance and the appellant in the second instance, Shen Junliang prepared his speech before the trial.
He held the manuscript while speaking, glanced at the court clerk who was typing on the computer from time to time, and then consciously slowed down his speech so that the clerk could "not miss a word" when recording.
Shen Junliang made three points: the criminal part hoped to maintain the original sentence, and the civil part hoped that the court would support his request for compensation. He also called on the judiciary to catch "Aunt Mei" and retrieve the four abducted children who had not yet been found.
"My son Shen Cong was abducted for 15 years, and I have been searching everywhere. For this reason, my family was bankrupt and I was in debt... My wife also got schizophrenia." Shen Junliang, who was in tears in court, choked and said, "This is the separation of flesh and blood. Pain, it's so painful!"
When Shen Cong was abducted, her mother Yu Xiaoli was cooking in the house.
She was twisted by the two men who suddenly rushed in, her mouth was wrapped tightly with transparent tape, her hands were tied, and her head was covered by a bag.
Shen Cong, who was 1 year old at the time, was lying in bed sleeping.
Yu Xiaoli clearly heard her son crying "Ah", she struggled to run to the bedroom and found that the child was missing.
For a long time after her son was snatched away, Yu Xiaoli was in a trance with tears all day long.
Later, she was sent to the hospital for examination and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression.
Looking for his son became Shen Junliang's "biggest thing" in those years.
He quit his white-collar job in Guangzhou, sold the real estate in his hometown in Henan, and moved to Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Shenzhen and other places alone.
He offered a reward of 100,000 yuan to collect clues, posted more than 800,000 missing persons notices on the streets and lanes, and owed more than 500,000 yuan in debt in 15 years.
In January 2020, Shen Cong was finally found by the police.
It turned out that 15 years ago, Shen Cong was sold by "human traffickers" Zhang Weiping, "Aunt Mei" and others for 13,000 yuan to a rural couple who gave birth to three daughters in Wuhua County, Meizhou City.
The couple worked outside all year round, and Shen Cong became a "left-behind child" since childhood.
At the age of 16, after the police took him away, he knew that he had been "buy".
In March 2020, after Shen Cong met his biological parents, he returned to Zhoukou, Henan with his parents.
Not long after, Shen Junliang transferred his son's school status to Jinan, Shandong, where he rented, and the family lived together, "reunion".
"When I open my eyes every day, my son is right in front of my eyes," Shen Junliang said. "How many years have I been looking forward to before this day."
Because he was worried that his son would be living in the shadow of "abducted children," Shen Junliang changed his name for Shen Cong and reissued his ID card.
Shen Junliang said that the new name of his son contains the meaning of "go home" and "grateful."
Shen Cong, who had transferred to Jinan to study in junior high school, did not perform well because of his poor academic foundation in the past.
"I am the last one in the class. Especially for English, the exam is all dependent on Mongolia." Shen Junliang was a little anxious.
He feels gratified that Shen Cong is very sensible, he studies hard, and his studies are constantly improving.
Now, Shen Cong has more than two months to take the high school entrance examination.
Shen Junliang began to consider his son's future development, "What if he fails to pass the high school entrance exam?"
After Shen Cong was abducted 15 years ago, Shen Junliang and his wife gave birth to two sons.
Today, two of the three sons are in the third grade and one in the first grade.
Shen Junliang told reporters that the family still owes more than 500,000 yuan. He will mainly do two things in the future-paying off debts and raising his son. In the final analysis, he wants to make money. "When I think of money, I sweat all over my body."
According to Shen Junliang, after his wife's mental illness was cured, she worked as a cleaner in a hotel, earning more than two thousand yuan a month.
He himself is also trying to find a job, albeit a bit "confused".
When working in Guangzhou when he was young, Shen Junliang was an enterprise manager.
But after 15 years of searching for children, he is now looking for a job again, and found that he has "too much waste" in the past 15 years.
However, Shen Junliang also has an advantage-he is more famous than the average "net celebrity".
The continuous media coverage over the years has made him a celebrity.
During the time when Shen Cong was retrieved last year, several business owners came to the door and said in front of TV cameras that they wanted to provide Shen Junliang with a decent job, and one boss also promised to pay for Shen Cong's future tuition.
"After the news report was broadcast, they advertised themselves, but they promised to help me, and nothing was done." Shen Junliang felt that he was being used. He felt that he had to rely on himself to find a job.
He used his fame to conduct "live delivery" on an online platform, selling some local specialty foods, such as rice noodles and red dates.
After 7 live broadcasts, Shen Junliang decided to give up, "I haven't eaten those things myself, so I still don't dare to recommend them randomly."
In the past six months, 44-year-old Shen Junliang has become a skilled "driver", earning three to four thousand yuan a month.
From 8 pm to 2 am, on the streets of Jinan, some drunk car owners can contact him through the software-after the platform dispatches the order, he will usually appear on an electric bike within 20 minutes.
Zhu Yuanxiang, Senior Correspondent, The Paper