Shenzhe's welfare center, which is the temporary guardian of a recently rescued abducted girl, has ruled out an earlier proposal to return the 3-year-old to her foster mother in Jiangsu Province, Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.
Gao Yongxia left Shenzhen in tears Monday after an abrupt visit to the girl at the welfare center during the weekend. Gao said she came to Shenzhen without informing the welfare center in advance because she simply missed the girl, Yueyue, so much. I was afraid I might fall ill if I didn t see her, she said.
Yueyue was rescued from Gao s family in Jiangsu in early February together with a Shenzhen boy, Peng Wenle, who was returned to his biological parents in Longgang District. Yueyue has since been kept at the welfare center because her biological parents had not been found.
Yueyue and Peng were allegedly abducted by Gao s husband, who died of cancer last year. But Gao was not charged with abduction.
The welfare center earlier said it might return Yueyue to Gao considering that the girl was emotionally so close to the foster mother after spending three years with her. She needs to grow up in a family with whom she is connected, said Tang Rongsheng, director of the welfare center.
However, the proposal became controversial with many people arguing that Gao was not cleared of the abduction and returning the girl to her would send a misleading message to society that kidnapping children was all right as long as the biological parents were not found.
Tang decided against returning the girl to her Jiangsu foster family after visiting Gao two weeks ago. He said Gao s financial situation and the economic development of the remote village in Jiangsu Province were not good enough to raise Yueyue. Yueyue will be better off with a good education in Shenzhen although the welfare center is not a good place for her to grow up either, Tang said.
Tang and the welfare center have been trying to find a suitable place for Yueyue to grow up. It is no easy decision, Tang said. About 40 Shenzhen families have submitted applications to adopt Yueyue, who cannot yet be adopted because police have not closed the abduction investigation.
However, the girl is so close to Gao that she often calls for her and had saved sweets to share with her.
Gao said she stood all the way on a train to Dongguan where she took a bus to Shenzhen. I left home so quickly that there were no seat tickets available. But I couldn t wait to see Yueyue, so I boarded the train with a standing ticket.
She said she had no idea about the abduction of Yueyue and Peng. My husband came home with Yueyue, who was then an infant in his arms. He told me the girl had been abandoned by her parents. Anyhow, I love the girl with my life.
Gao earlier said she was willing to move to Shenzhen to live with Yueyue. Some Shenzhen companies offered Gao a job if she comes to Shenzhen. But the welfare center had not decided to let Yueyue live with Gao in Shenzhen.
(By Wei Jie)
