A 45-year-old Shanxi province woman has been reunited with her family after going missing 13 years ago. A man has been charged with rape, as officials allege she was taken to his home and had his children. -- Photo: Handout
BEIJING: More than a decade ago, a 32-year-old woman wandered away from her home in central China.
The woman, identified only by her surname Bu, had a university degree but she also had a history of mental illness, with several hospital stays for treatment by the time she went missing from her home in Jinzhong, Shanxi province, in 2011.
Now, 13 years later, she has been found in a village in Heshun county more than 150km (93 miles) away, and a 46-year-old villager surnamed Zhang on suspicion of raping her, according to county authorities.
The authorities said that Zhang allegedly saw that she was ill and took her home. Bu gave birth to his children, although an official statement did not say how many children the woman had.
“Zhang knew Bu had a mental illness but still had sexual relations with her and had children. He is suspected of committing a crime and has been detained by public security officials,” the statement said.
Local authorities have questioned several villagers about whether Zhang restricted Bu’s personal freedom, it said, adding that it appeared she often went out by herself to buy snacks and never ran away from the village. Police are investigating whether the case involved human trafficking, illegal detention or other crimes.
Meanwhile, the local women's federation in North China's Shanxi Province has also intervened to investigate the case of a woman who went missing for over 10 years due to mental illness and the association found that Bu was with two children, following widespread public attention.
According to The Paper, the woman surnamed Bu, born in 1979, earned a master's degree in engineering in 2008. However, her plans to apply for a doctoral program were disrupted by an unexpected incident. As she failed to update her second-generation ID card in time, she was unable to take the doctoral entrance exam.
Later, Bu was diagnosed with schizophrenia and, after undergoing hospital treatment for some time, was discharged to recover at home. Subsequently, she went missing from home in 2011 and has remained untraceable since.
Her family members searched extensively and reported her missing to the police, but received no updates. On November 25, a woman from Heshun county, Jinzhong city in Shanxi Province, approached volunteer Zhu Yutang for assistance in locating her aunt's relatives. With the assistance of volunteers and the police, her aunt was finally reunited with her family, confirming that the aunt is Bu. It was revealed that Bu now has a son and a daughter.
On December 4, Bu's brother told reporters that Bu had been admitted to a hospital for treatment. Zhu revealed that Bu's brother was planning to sell their house to cover her medical expenses.
The Public Security Bureau of Heshun county stated on December 3 that preliminary investigations revealed, Bu went missing from her home in May 2011 and was later taken in by a resident named Zhang from Qingcheng town in Heshun county. Further verification and investigation into the matter are ongoing, the statement said.
The case has sparked heated discussions on social media platforms such as Sina Weibo. Some netizens have questioned whether Bu possessed full self-awareness during her pregnancies and childbirth given her mental illness.
In response, the local Women's Federation stated that they will intervene in the investigation, and officials from the Shunxian County Women's Federation confirmed that their investigation is underway and promised an official statement upon completion, according to Beijing News. - Agencies
