Daijiworld Media Network - Beijing

Beijing, Nov 2: In a chilling case that has shocked China, a 23-year-old man was sentenced to death for murdering his mother in a staged road accident to fraudulently claim her insurance payout of 320,000 yuan (USD 45,000), according to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The convict, identified only by his surname Lu, plotted the heinous act with his friends Yang and Cheng. As per investigators, Lu lured his mother, surnamed Xu, to stand by a rural roadside under the pretext of helping him. Moments later, Yang and Cheng struck her with a car, killing her instantly.

Police uncovered the murder after inconsistencies emerged in the trio’s alibis. Following a detailed probe, the Taizhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang province found Lu and Yang guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced both to death, while Cheng received seven years’ imprisonment for his role in the crime.

According to the court’s findings, Xu had earlier been injured in a road accident in April 2023, for which she received an insurance settlement of 320,000 yuan. Lu and his accomplices squandered the money on luxury goods and, driven by greed, plotted another insurance scam.

Investigators revealed the group initially considered blinding Xu to claim disability compensation but later abandoned the plan. Shockingly, they even injured Lu’s father in a similar attempt, jabbing his eye with a bamboo stick to claim a mere 1,300 yuan (USD 180).

During interrogation, Lu told police, “Yang told me that if we kill my mother and get the insurance compensation, my family’s life will improve. So I agreed to kill my mother.”

The gruesome case has sparked widespread outrage and renewed concern over rising insurance frauds in China, prompting calls for stricter monitoring and harsher penalties for such crimes.