Beijing police, in a statement released on Chinese social media platform Weibo, announced on Friday that the investigation into a recent case of attempted child abduction will be reviewed.
The incident first came to light when a Weibo user "@liuyuedeyuzainali," reportedly operated by the baby's father, said that the three women who allegedly snatched his 11-month-old son in a shopping mall were let off after a five-day administrative detention without facing any serious charges.
In the post, the man said that his wife tried her best to guard their son but was over-powered by two of the women while the third one successfully pulled out the baby from the stroller. However, after his wife cried for help, passersby and a security guard intervened and the baby was returned to his mother.
Later, after police arrived, the three women along with another woman linked to the event were taken into custody.
According to images of the police's punishment notices, which were uploaded by the man in his Weibo post, one of the four women, identified as Li, claimed that she had mistaken the baby as her grandson. The baby's father also alleged that the police refused to file a case of abduction due to lack of evidence.
The man said that he was astonished and irritated by the woman's brazen attitude and was also disappointed with the way the police handled the matter. He believes that it should be taken as an attempted child-trafficking case, therefore the punishment was too light.
The police's way of handling the case has also been criticized on social media.
However, a security guard in the shopping mall told China National Radio (CNR) that he doubted the accusations against these women as they didn't try to hide themselves from the surveillance cameras when they tried to snatch the baby boy. He said the incident lasted for about two minutes.
The baby's father on Friday posted updates on Weibo, saying that they had filed another appeal to the police station in Fengtai District seeking harsher punishment against the women.
Fengtai District police later confirmed in a Weibo post released on Beijing police's official account that they had received the appeal from the parents and are taking the case very seriously.
"Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau attach great importance to the case and have formed a special team to review the case," police said in the statement.
"Beijing police has always paid great attention to any cases involving minors. We stringently crackdown on any criminal actions against minors according to the law, protect children's safety and safeguard the rights and interests of parents," said the statement.
