An 8-year-old girl died in a Beijing hospital last night after suffering injuries suspected to have been caused by her American foster father. Ten other children also cared for by the man, who has not been seen for two weeks, have been taken into protective custody.
The girl, named Phoebe, was one of 11 children adopted by Ray Wigdal, a US citizen living in Shunyi district. The injuries sustained by the child, and the fact that she reportedly told hospital staff she was beaten, have led to accusations of child abuse while under the man’s care.
A resident in China for 30 years, Wigdal, who is in his fifties, has been caring for children since 2004 and is understood to have housed them in various locations across Beijing. Members of his frequently changing roster of volunteer carers have provided many of the details to have emerged since the case came to light on Thursday. One non-Chinese volunteer with the assumed name Xu Qiang, was quoted by Chinese-language outlet The Mirror saying that many of the children, several of whom are handicapped, were taken in by Wigdal after being orphaned or abandoned.
After being admitted to hospital last week the girl, who was ethnically Chinese but spoke little Mandarin and fluent English, had undergone surgery for intestinal obstruction and kidney damage – injuries that doctors say were caused by external trauma. Although the girl reportedly claimed that she had been beaten before she stopped breathing last night, volunteers have claimed that she had been involved in a bicycle accident.
Photos gleaned from www.rayschildren.org
On Friday, the ten other children under Wigdal's care were being transported by volunteers to have breakfast but were intercepted by police and taken into custody in a child protection center in Lido.
It has been speculated by Chinese media that Wigdal has been questioned by police but no details have yet been released, including whether he has been detained or not. It is suspected that he does not have legal guardianship over the children and acts as a de facto parent. The unusual circumstances of a foreigner caught up in child abuse allegations has seen the case attract growing interest from the media, both Chinese and English-language. Reports have prompted heated debate around race issues on sites that have reported on the story.
While the cause of the girl's injuries remain unclear, a number of online comments from people who claim to have met Widgal say that he was fully devoted to the children and expressed surprise at the allegations. Other media outlets have used the fact that he has not been seen, and was not present at the hospital, to infer that he is considered a suspect and is on the run from abuse charges.
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