China seeks to block deaf-mute path to crime

BEIJING, May 19 (Reuters) China's police have vowed to crack down on crime gangs that exploit deaf-mute youths, state media reported today, highlighting the hardships of disabled people in a society that gives limited support.

China has about 1.8 million deaf-mute people aged 18 or younger, and often schooling and steady work are beyond their reach, Xinhua news agency reported.

''Their education level is not high, employment is difficult, social contact is limited, and consequently they are cheated or forced into criminal activities,'' deputy chief of China's national association of deaf people, Yang Yang, told Xinhua.

A senior officer in the Ministry of Public Security, Cai Anji, told Xinhua that local police had been ordered to work with disabled people's associations and welfare agencies to stop deaf-mute teenagers being drawn into crime.

In a society where disabled people, especially in poor rural areas, receive little state support, crime can offer deaf-mute teenagers a source of income and inclusion. Gangs have targeted schools for deaf-mute students to lure or press-gang recruits.

Earlier this week, the Legal Daily reported that police in central China's Hunan province broke up a gang of gun-wielding deaf-mute robbers who had ranged across the country.

Fifteen suspects were arrested. Some had disappeared from a school for deaf-mutes in Shanxi province in the north. Police said the gang was behind hundreds of robberies at gunpoint across the country.

REUTERS AGL KN1504