12-year-old kidnap victim rescued

Two suspects involved in the alleged abduction and purchase of a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl have been detained by Xuzhou police in Jiangsu province.

According to the Xuzhou people's procuratorate, the girl was taken to Xinyang, Henan province, in 2014 by two Vietnamese traffickers. She was then "adopted" by a woman surnamed Xie in Xuzhou.

In May, Xie introduced the girl to a 35-year-old man surnamed Liu, who later paid her 30,000 yuan ($4,500) as a betrothal gift. Liu and the girl then lived under the pretext of husband and wife in a remote village in Tongshan district.

On Oct 4, Liu and a female relative took the girl for a prenatal examination at the Xuzhou No 4 People's Hospital and claimed that she was 20 years old. After discovering that the girl was 12 weeks pregnant, a doctor called police as she appeared much younger.

"The girl can only understand very simple Chinese and was reluctant to communicate," said a doctor surnamed Zhang.

"The two people accompanying her refused to let her talk to others. They even threatened to blow up the hospital after discovering that some medical workers tried to call the police," the doctor said.

Some patients and security workers at the hospital also called the police after noticing the girl's appearance and the attitude of the two people who accompanied her.

Both Xie and Liu were detained.

The news about the girl went viral on China's social media and angered many people.

Local police have gone to Henan province to catch others involved in the abduction.

The local procuratorate immediately ordered a juvenile criminal investigation department to probe the case.

Local police said more information will be released after the investigation is completed.

News of Vietnamese women and girls sold to Chinese men living in rural areas are reported from time to time in China. In September, police in Yunnan province saved 32 kidnapped Vietnamese women and detained 75 Vietnamese and Chinese suspects.