Sex predator kept girls in dungeon
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Community in shock
Residents of Shengying, a quiet community of about 300 people that even most Wuhan taxi drivers have never heard of, are still coming to terms with the shocking event of the past two weeks.
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The low-lying, gray cement building with small windows sealed by iron plates was used to keep the two girls. |
"We are disgusted," said a 60-year-old retiree called Xu (a common surname in the village), who lives to the left of the ivy-covered, two-story house that Zeng shared with his ageing mother. "(Zeng) is the last person in the village I would have expected to do a thing like this.
"He was born here and grew up in a normal family," said the next-door neighbor.
The youngest of five children, Zeng has two brothers (one has died) and two sisters. His father, who passed away in early 1990s, kept pigs and grew vegetables, and sometimes worked as a carpenter. His mother, 72, worked at a wet market.
Like the vast majority of people in the area, Zeng works for Wuhan Iron and Steel, China's third largest steel manufacturer. Although, when China Daily contacted the company's spokesman Bai Fang, he denied ever having heard of him. He also owns a small apartment in a residential compound closer to the city's downtown where his ex-wife and 10-year-old daughter live.
"I'd never expect he could do anything like (keep girls captive)," said Xu Jiefeng, a distant relative of Zeng, who admitted he helped dig the underground chamber where Zhou and Hu were found. He did the work for 10 yuan (US$1.50) a day.
"The basement was divided into two parts," he explained. Zeng dug the back section himself a few years ago, claiming it was for storing water. Last October, Xu Jiefeng helped dig the front section to about 2.5 meters deep. The cellars were then covered with steel plates, soil and cement.
"He told me it would be used to store biogas. How could anybody know he planned to use it to imprison girls?" he said.
Xu Jiefeng insisted he had no idea what Zeng was doing. "His mother told me she did not know either," said neighbor Xu Jing, who added that the woman has since moved in with one of her daughters.
The fact Zeng's family had no idea about his secret life is not surprising, according to experts.
He could have a sexual perversion but not necessarily a mental illness, explained Deng Jun, a psychotherapist with Beijing No 2 Hospital. "It could stem from his childhood, family or his failed marriage. He seems introverted and has no friends," she said.
Liu Banghui, a criminal psychologist with China University of Political Science and Law, said it is difficult to draw a conclusion about Zeng before all the evidence is uncovered.
However, the grisly discovery of the girls has spread fear among some sections of Shengying.
Li Ying, a 15-year-old high school student, said she has stopped going out at night since the girls were found. "It is not safe," she said.
Another villager, who declined to give his name, said Shengying was relatively crime-free before a few cases of rape were reported in 2007. "Shengying was unknown to most people outside of the area. Now it's become famous overnight," he added.
A handful of notices posted on walls and telephone poles around the village appeal for the victims of a series of rapes and robberies to contact the district police department. The notices say that officers have arrested a prime suspect. District security officials did not respond to requests for information about the progress of the appeal.
"Children should know how to protect themselves," said Deng. "Girls should also know how to keep a safe distance with strangers."
Li Meijin, a professor of criminal psychology at the Chinese People's Public Security University, said although crime cannot be totally prevented, it can be reduced through education.
"It is like walking on the road: People will always choose a safe route," she said.
Li urged the authorities to find out how the girls were kidnapped, which will help to teach others how to avoid such dangers.
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