Teen kidnapped and killed cousin for money

A teenager was found guilty of kidnapping and killing his cousin to get money to surf the Internet, and sentenced to jail for 15 years recently by the Bengbu Intermediate People's Court in Anhui province, chinacourt.org reported on Monday.

The teenager kidnapped his cousin, who was a second grade pupil in the village of Shiyuan in the province, and strangled him with his hands.

The teen then demanded 150,000 yuan ($24,000) from the victim's mother by text message. After she called back and confronted him, he phoned the police to report his cousin's death, but denied having any part in it. The teen later confessed.

His family will pay compensation of about 190,000 yuan to the victim's family.

According to the police, the teenager had left middle school to seek jobs outside his hometown and been apart from his family for more than 10 years.

He returned to his hometown last October from Ningbo, Zhejing province, after having argued with colleagues there. Once home, he spent most of his time in Internet cafes, on which he spent all his money. It was then that the idea of kidnapping his cousin occurred to him.