Car crash, $25,000 insurance payout, extra-marital affair – Chilling details emerge in death of 7-year-old in China

Harrowing details of a seven-year-old child’s death in China has gripped the internet after a Fujian court revealed that a man staged a fatal crash to kill his son for insurance money. He took his cousin’s help for planning out the same.

He later collected 180,000 yuan (US$25,000) in insurance payout and shared 30,000 yuan with his cousin.

According to the South China Morning Post, the man was upset after he discovered about his wife’s extra marital affair.

How did the man plan the crash?

According to the court, Zhang from Sanming city plotted the crime in 2020 after escalating fights with his wife over money and her affair.

In October the same year, Zhang parked his car by a roadside, told his son to step out, and moments later, his cousin — driving a truck — slammed into the vehicle, killing the boy instantly. Zhang pretended not to know the driver and claimed it was an accident, mentioned the report by SCMP.

How did the incident come to light?

The scheme began to unravel when authorities discovered the cousin had forged his transport license, prompting the insurer to deny compensation.

A court then ordered the truck owner to pay damages, raising suspicions.

Shocked by the ruling, the truck owner Luo, along with one of Zhang’s friends, Ye, approached the police with their concerns. Luo revealed that Ye had known about Zhang’s plan to kill his son but had refused to get involved. After the boy’s death, Ye grew suspicious of Zhang’s involvement but remained silent out of fear. The owner and a friend of Zhang’s alerted police, and investigators uncovered the staged crash.

Accused handed death sentence

Zhang’s cousin received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, while Zhang was also sentenced to death but appealed — and the final ruling remains undisclosed.

The case has gone viral on Chinese social platforms, drawing tens of millions of views and widespread outrage.