NANSHAN District People’s Procuratorate has approved the arrest of a suspect, who allegedly brought two Hong Kong teenage girls from Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint to Xiamen in Fujian Province early last month, for the charges of child abduction and indecent assault, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

    According to the Nanshan procuratorate, the suspect, identified only by his family name Qiu, became acquainted with the two Hong Kong girls, aged 12 and 14, through QQ. Qiu allegedly tricked the teenage girls into going to Xiamen by promising that they could find jobs there and that he would provide them with entertainment.

    After Qiu met the girls at the Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint on Jan. 8, he allegedly removed the SIM cards from their mobile phones to cut them off from contact with their parents and friends. Qiu then brought them onto a high-speed train from Shenzhen to Xiamen the next day.

    After arriving in Xiamen, Qiu kept the two girls in a rental apartment where he molested them several times, according to the procurators.

    With the help of police in Xiamen, Nanshan police found the girls in Haicang District, Xiamen, on Jan. 11, about 50 hours after they were reported missing at Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint by their parents.

    Nanshan police brought them to Shenzhen that night.

    The two girls were last seen at the northeast part of the checkpoint’s inspection building at 2 p.m. Jan. 8 before they were reported missing by their families.

    According to the procuratorate, people who separate children under 14 years old from their guardians without their guardians’ permission will be regarded as child abductors, regardless of the children’s willingness. Parents are advised to educate their children to be vigilant against strangers and raise their awareness of how to protect themselves. (Zhang Yang)