A 13-year-old Chinese boy has avoided jail time after he murdered and sexually abused a 10-year-old girl in October this year.

Cai, the 13-year-old boy, lured the 10-year-old girl to his house in Dalian China, where he reportedly sexually assaulted her before stabbing her to death.

Cai left the dead body of the 10-year-old girl in a ditch that was close to the house of her family.

The family members of the girl found the dead body of the girl a day after the incident happened.

Cai was sentenced to serve 3 days in rehabilitation.

The sentence that was handed to Cai was so low due to his age. The Chinese age of criminal responsibility only allows a judge to punish a child for rehab.

The family of the victim wants to get a more severe punishment for Cai.

Chinese law only dictates minors of 16 and 18 can be held criminally responsible. But for serious offenses such as robbery, rape, and murder, teens that are aged 14 to 16 may be tried for serious offenses.

Children that are below 16-years-old who do not face any criminal charges are only disciplined by their guardians or parents.

In the worst cases, they are going to be placed in a rehabilitation center.

As per reports, authorities feel that the parents of Cai could not discipline their son properly, and this is why he was sent to a rehabilitation center.

The sentencing of Cai has sparked a massive debate in China.

Citizens and some officials have called for changes to current laws surrounding the age of criminal responsibility in China.

Luo Xiang, a criminal justice professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, said the age can be lowered from 14-years-old to 12-years-old.

Professor Xiang said, “Theoretically speaking, people of any age should bear criminal responsibility if they commit intentional homicide.”

This is not the first time an incident like this has happened in China.

In March this year, a 13-year-old boy in Eastern Jiangsu Province in China was arrested by the police after he hacked his own mother to death with a cleaver over a heated dispute. According to reports, the child was not held responsible for the death of his mother.

In December 2018, a 12-year-old boy from Hunan Province, China confessed that he stabbed his mother to death after his mother used physical force to discipline him. According to reports, the boy was released from jail and was sent back to school days after committing his mother after prosecutors failed to charge him.

Users of Weibo, a social media platform in China, are currently calling for severe punishment for 13-year-old Cai.

Some citizens are demanding death penalty for the boy and called him an animal.