The 2003 Chengdu Case of 3-Year-Old Li Siyi, Who Starved to Death

On the afternoon of 4 June 2003, a woman named Li Guifang from Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu, was detained by police in Jintang County for theft (she had stolen two bottles of shampoo) and was found to be a drug user. After a urine test confirmed drug use, she was sent for compulsory drug rehabilitation.

Throughout her arrest and transfer, she repeatedly knelt, wept, and begged the officers handling the case. She told them that her 3-year-old daughter, Li Siyi, was locked inside their home alone (the child had been sleeping there after lunch) and asked to be allowed to go home to settle the child or to call relatives.

The officers involved — including Wang Xin, deputy chief of the Chengjiao (suburban) police station, and officer Huang Xiaobing — did not go to check on the child, did not properly notify family members, and did not ensure that the local station in the child’s neighborhood followed through.

Because the mother was suddenly taken into custody, Li Siyi remained locked in the apartment with no one knowing and no one caring for her. Seventeen days later, on the evening of 21 June 2003, neighbors noticed a foul smell and called police.

Officers forced entry and found the little girl already dead by the bedroom door, having died of extreme hunger and thirst after days of struggle. Autopsy ruled out violence and poisoning.

The case was widely reported in Chinese media and shocked the public. Courts later found the officers guilty of serious dereliction of duty. In August 2004, the Xindu District Court in Chengdu sentenced Wang Xin to 3 years in prison and Huang Xiaobing to 2 years for the crime of neglect of duty (玩忽职守罪). Other officers were also disciplined.

The mother’s name in official reporting is Li Guifang (李桂芳). The family lived in Qingbaijiang District; the arrest itself took place in neighboring Jintang County.

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