Bus passenger sends alert over suspected child abduction

Beijing police are investigating a suspected child abduction Tuesday, after a passenger spotted a woman with a girl on a bus who kept crying for her mother.

A person with a user name of Aidiwangshiyi alleged on a Sina microblog Monday evening that he saw a girl crying for her mother on the No.731 bus around 9 pm. He claimed that the child, who looked to be around 5 years old, was taken off the bus by a woman who did not seem to want to look other passengers in the eye.

"The girl spoke standard Putonghua, while the woman had a strong southern accent. They got off the bus at Ganluyuan in Chaoyang district then," he posted.

He reported this to police and uploaded a picture of the girl and the woman online.

Balizhuang police station, Chaoyang district, confirmed they knew of the case.　

"We have reported it to the anti-human trafficking office, and are investigating as well," a police officer, who refused to give her name, told the Global Times Tuesday.

Some Web users said the girl's photo should not be put online, as if she is not a trafficking victim, it may impact her future.　

Yu Jianrong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who launched an anti-child trafficking campaign in January 2011, asking people to post photos of child beggars on microblogs, believes citizens should be encouraged to act if they suspect a child is being abducted.　

"If anyone sees anything unusual, they should go to ask or report to local police. One photo or a call may save a family and the life of a child," he told the Global Times.

The Ministry of Public Security announced last month that police had busted two major child-trafficking gangs, arresting 802 suspects and freeing 181 children, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The telephone hotline of the Beijing anti-human trafficking office was constantly busy on Tuesday afternoon.