Girl fakes kidnap to get parents to pay World Cup gambling debt
Unable to pay her gambling debt, an undergraduate tried to get her parents to fork out the cash by pretending to have been kidnapped.
The 21-year-old, known only as Xiao Cai, lost 1,000 yuan (S$200) betting on World Cup games online, reported ShanghaiDaily.com.
Her parents in Wuxi, China's Jiangsu province, had refused to give her the money to pay off her debt.
So when Xiao Cai travelled to Shanghai to visit a friend on June 20, she cooked up a plan to get the money.
Pay up, or else...
On June 22, she sent text messages to her mother, purportedly from a kidnapper, demanding a ransom of 20,000 yuan for her safe release.
Posing as the kidnapper, she also threatened to sell the girl (herself) to a bar owner and have her work as a prostitute if they did not pay up.
The couple tried in vain to contact Xiao Cai before approaching a friend to trace the phone number, reported online media publication China Topix.
The police said: "When the parents learnt that the mobile number was from Shanghai, they immediately left Wuxi and travelled to Shanghai fearing for the life of their daughter."
Ask cops for help
There, the couple received another text message with instructions and the money drop location - the gate of Kunyang Road Primary School in Minhang District.
The parents went to the Bijiang Road Police Station for help and told them the last known location of their daughter - a friend's house at Jiangchuan Road.
Police visited the place and found Xiao Cai watching a World Cup match by herself, reported China Topix.
She got off with a reprimand from the police for her behaviour.
Sources: China Topix, ShanghaiDaily.com
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