A reward of 500,000 yuan (72,000 U.S. dollars) offered by a family in east China's Zhejiang Province for information about their missing son captured widespread attention on social media.
But it was all a bogus act, according to police.
They said the 11-year-old's disappearance was deliberately staged by his mother, who had an argument with her husband and wanted to test whether he really cares about her and her son.
The mother was arrested and detained by police on Wednesday on suspicion of “creating and deliberately spreading false information.”
The 33-year-old mother, surnamed Chen, reported to police in Yueqing City of Zhejiang Province that her son was “missing” on Friday evening. On social media, she posted a detailed description of her son's clothing when last seen, as well as a photo asking netizens for help in locating him.
The mother has been arrested and detained on suspicion of “creating and deliberately spreading false information” by police, Wednesday morning. /VCG Photo
The “missing” boy's father even offered a reward of 500,000 yuan (72,000 U.S. dollars) for any information about their son. The father published over 80 messages on social media pleading for help after going five days without seeing his son.
The police said the case has been given top priority with the help of Yueqing and the nearby city of Wenzhou. They used huge resources and manpower to investigate the case and carry out searches.
The story headlined “Wenzhou 11-year-old boy missing for five days” on Weibo was read more than 230 million times.
The boy was later found safe on Tuesday evening at a relative's home in a village where he had been sent by his mother.
She did so to “test the devotion of her husband,” police said. “The husband does business in another city and the couple have been having relationship problems,” Caixinglobal reported.
After the police found that the boy was safe, neighbors told police that the whole family had moved out around 3 a.m. on Wednesday and their whereabouts were unknown, according to Zhejiang News. The mother was arrested on Wednesday morning.
A police statement said Chen's behavior had seriously disrupted social order, wasted a huge amount of police resources and damaged the public trust. They said they will deal with the case in accordance with the law.
The mother's behavior infuriated Chinese social media users. Most comments criticized the mother for wasting police resources and cheating the public trust.
One netizen, whose comment was liked more than 7,000 times, said, “Everyone is happy that the child is safe, but this kind of family member must be seriously dealt with! This not only wastes everyone's time and energy, it is emotionally exhausting and wastes national resources. This is over the top!” South China Morning Post reported.
(Cover Photo: VCG Photo)