Rich people in China often hire body
doubles to serve their prison sentences
Said to have been a part of Chinese culture
for centuries, with increasing notoriety in the past few years, is the practice
of lower class men and women being hired as body doubles to help the wealthy
avoid paying for their crimes. Due to it now being so well recognised it is now
known by official term, “ding zui” which translates to “substitute criminal”.
One-tenth of one per cent of China’s
population is overtly wealthy and controls nearly half of the country’s
riches. Many of them have made their
fortune from close ties to the Government which is why it is assumed that the
practice of hiring a body double has never been investigated properly.
A well-known case that was controversial
both in China and worldwide involved 20-year old Hu Bin, who was drag-racing
through one of the country’s most expensive cities, Hangzhou. His car was
travelling so fast that he struck a pedestrian who was flung 20 yards on impact
and died. Horrified eye-witnesses said Bin appeared nonchalant at the scene
while waiting for police to arrive.
After a weak investigation, in which
authorities claimed Bin hadn’t even been speeding, he was sentenced to three
years imprisonment. Many Chinese protested this as the death penalty is often
sentenced for less serious crimes. However, public debate heated up as claims
arose that the man who stood trial was not Hu Bin, but someone paid to take his
place in court and in prison. Observers believed the man on the stand did not
bear much resemblance to the photos of Hu Bin taken at the crime scene. The
authorities refuted the claims.
Successful businesswoman Gu Kailai, who was
sentenced to a suspended death sentence in 2012, is also considered to have
used a body double in her infamous trial for the murder of British businessman,
Neil Heywood. Again, Chinese authorities censored these rumours. As reported by
the BBC at the time The London Financial Times used two security experts with
experience in facial recognition software who determined that Gu Kailai was not
the woman standing trial for the charges.
It is believed that no real investigation
into the practice has been executed because many officials believe it is
justified. The real perpetrator suffers by paying vast sums of money to source
a body double while the punishment is still being delivered and served, which
stands to intimidate and prevent future criminals. Also, the body double
receives financial security for their future or their families that could only
be dreamt of.
By Clarissa Waldron
No comments:
Post a Comment