Eight days ago, the Supreme People’ s Procuratorate published ‘typical cases of criminal crimes involving manhole covers’. Do you know that stealing manhole covers may be convicted of serious crimes such as the crime of endangering public security by dangerous methods, the crime of intentional homicide and so on! Actually, in March this year, the Supreme People’s court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued ‘the government decree of handling criminal cases involving manhole covers’, in order to protect our ‘security under the feet’ with the firm determination to crack down on manhole covers crimes.
Over the years, the manhole covers crimes happened frequently but can not be forbidden completely. According to statistics, in 2004, more than 11,000 manhole covers and rainwater grates lost in Beijing. From 2017 to 2019, there still were more than 70 cases of ‘manhole covers eating and biting man’ reported by media...The government decree was issued to emphasize the precise punishment of the manhole covers crimes, which is applauded by major media saying that the government decree stop the manhole covers from eating people by legislation. Let’s see what important guidance the government decree has for stealing and destroying the manhole covers~
No.1: Suspected of the crime of damaging traffic facilities!
According to the provisions of the government decree, those who steal or destroy the manhole covers on the roads used by social motor vehicles, which are enough to overturn or destroy cars or trams, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of damaging traffic facilities. If serious consequences are caused by any of the above acts, the criminal suspect shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death!
In August 2011, Wu together with his girlfriend Guo, drove a coach and stole 7 manhole covers on the middle of Dongyu road in Jinzhong city, Shanxi Province. After being found by traffic police, Wu fled, but later he surrendered himself. The manhole covers on the road are the component part of the traffic facilities, but Wu made several holes on the rode which shall be the crime of destroying traffic facilities! Fortunately, because Wu’s behavior did not cause serious consequences, coupled with his surrender, he got a light sentence of two years in prison.
No.2: Suspected of the crime of endangering public security!
This crime is aimed at the legendary ‘man-eating manhole covers’ in non-motorized lanes, sidewalks and stations, docks, parks, squares, schools, commercial centers, factories, communities, courtyards, and other places where people come and go. Just imagine, if someone steal or destroy the manhole covers aforementioned, doesn’t it mean that the streets are opening their mouth and randomly swallowed the pedestrians? In the same way, stealing or destroying the above manhole covers, causing death or injury to people or causing heavy losses to public and private property, the actor can be sentenced to death at most!
No.3: Suspected of the crime of causing death negligently or the crime of intentional homicide!
So terrible. Stealing a manhole cover is related to murder?
In May 2017, Jiang, an ordinary resident of Hebei Province, opened the manhole cover outside his house because he wanted to drain the sewage, later he went back home without setting any warning signs or looking for someone to watch it. As a result, his 2 - year - old neighbor Fang fell into the well and drowned, Jiang shall be convicted of the crime of causing death negligently.
The sewer system extends in all directions with fast currents. Once someone falls, the consequences are unimaginable. If someone wants to move the manhole covers without authorization, he should foresee the consequences of possible casualties and set warning signs in advance. Jiang’s careless behavior not only made a fresh life die out, made the victims’ family suffer from unbearable grief, but also put himself in chains of remorse for the rest of his life.
No.4: Be suspicious when someone sell manhole cover to you, be conscientious when purchasing scrap iron!
As the saying goes, no business, no harm. Behind the repeated prohibition of the theft of manhole cover is the black reselling of manhole covers. In September 2013, Gu stole 57 manhole covers(worth 23646 RMB) from a number of pedestrian streets in Xiangzhou, Zhuhai, and sold them to Chen A who ran a waste collection station in Zhongshan, at a price of 0.6 RMB per catty. Chen A then sold them to Chen B who works in a waste material recycling company in Zhongshan, at a price of 0.8 RMB per catty. Both Chen A and Chen B were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for one year, and fined 8,000 RMB for their crimes of concealing income from crime.
The manhole cover, worthy of several hundred RMB, is stolen and then sold at the price of scrap iron, not only bringing security risks to the society, but also wasting resources. The aforementioned government decree clears that: those who know that they are hiding, transferring, purchasing, selling on behalf of others or hiding or concealing by other means the manhole cover obtained from theft and the proceeds thereof shall be convicted and punished for the crime of concealing income from crime. Therefore, not only the act of stealing manhole cover violates the criminal law, the acquisition of the stolen manhole cover also has its own criminal charges. Later, if someone sell manhole cover as scrap iron to you, you’d better be careful because it may be stolen goods rather than scrap iron!
No.5: The manhole cover problem is unavoidable for relative institutions!
The reason why ‘small manhole cover’ became an ‘old difficult problem’ is related to the ‘multi - institution management and unclear rights and responsibilities’ of relevant departments. In 2004, Chen stumbled over one broken manhole cover, and suffered from 10 disfigured disability, but he was repeatedly refused when asking for help. Under helpless, he had to sue a case in which there were eight accused units, and the responsible unit finally shall bear responsibility after two trials.
What Chen encountered is not rare, the government decree clears that: the intendants working in the companies, enterprises and institutions that has duty of managing manhole cover or another institutions entrusted by the above national institutions according to legislation, whoever neglects duty or abuses power thereby causing heavy losses to public property or to the interests of the state and the people, shall be convicted of the crime of neglecting duty or the crime of abusing power and bear punishment respectively.
Zhang, the person in charge of one engineering construction headquarters of a traffic bureau in Jinan, knew that there were some manhole covers missing but did not timely find out and repair it, resulting in a major potential safety hazard in the airport road, which has been repeatedly complained by townspeople. In September 2015, Liu fell into one of aforementioned cellar well and died. In June 2018, Zhang was convicted of neglect of duty. Small manhole cover is actually related to people’s livelihood, so those who bear duty of managing and maintaining manhole cover shall shoulder their responsibility on their own initiative, otherwise it is too late to handle accident when something bad happen.
It is hoped that after the government decree was issued, the law-enforcing department can cut off the black trading chain of the manhole cover crime from the source, and the relevant authorities and units can exert their subjective initiative as well as improve treatment measures of manhole cover, in order to wipe out the man-eating manhole cover!
