‘She just wants me dead’: Chinese man kidnaps own grandchild to pay off RM322,000 in gambling debts, blames daughter for his crimes

Gambling-addicted grandpa kidnaps his own granddaughter and makes ransom demand to his daughter. 65-year-old is jailed for extortion and after initially blaming daughter for his crimes, is now trying to patch up their relationship. — SCMP

A Chinese grandfather addicted to gambling has shocked millions of people on mainland social media by kidnapping his own granddaughter.

According to a report in a law journal in China’s largest city, Shanghai, the 65-year-old, surnamed Yuan, committed the outrageous crime to support his addiction.

It began when Yuan picked up his four-year-old granddaughter from school.

Behaving like a kidnapper, he told the little girl’s mother, his own daughter: “You won’t see your daughter again unless you give me 500,000 yuan (RM321,777 or US$72,500) in three days.”

So desperate was he for cash, he even threatened to kill his own daughter. However, she called the police and her father was arrested. He was subsequently jailed for extortion.

However, while in prison, Yuan tried to exonerate himself by blaming his daughter: “I’m 65 years old and my daughter is suing me. She never wants me to get better. She just wants me dead.”

Yuan, who also believes the row is a “family” and not a “legal” matter, has accused his daughter of being “ungrateful”.

According to the Shanghai Law Journal, Yuan staged a hunger strike in prison and did not get along with his cellmates.

Eventually, the police and Yuan’s ex-wife intervened and Yuan got a letter of understanding from his daughter. From that point on he began to adapt to prison life and cooperate with the authorities.

The Shanghai Law Journal did not disclose when the “family kidnapping” took place.

The story has been reported by a number of prominent Chinese media outlets, including China Newsweek and Guancha.cn.

A video re-telling of the story has been viewed more than three million times on Weibo.

Online observers expressed outrage at the grandfather’s actions, with one saying: “How useless is a father like that! He won’t change until he dies! The daughter should cut off her relationship with him!”

Another online commenter said: “Extortion and violence are crimes and definitely not ‘family matters’.” – South China Morning Post