Court sued after faulty DNA test leads to wrong reunion

It's a twisted tale of mistaken DNA that's resulted in a mother suing the court.

In 1992, a mother's beloved 1-year-old son was kidnapped by his nanny in Chongqing. The crime was reported to the police, but three years elapsed with no news.

Then in 1995 the police found a boy, among other kidnapped children in Henan province, who fitted the physical description provided by the distraught parents. And so the mother - filled with joy - came to collect him.

Just to be sure, a DNA test was performed by a court, and the biological link was confirmed. All was well. For the next two decades, the mother raised the boy to manhood.

The trouble is the DNA test was wrong.

This wasn't her son, after all. Her real son was still being raised by the nanny who kidnapped him.

Now the mother is suing the Henan High People's Court, which provided the erroneous DNA test.

In September, Zhu Xiaojuan, 54, sued for compensation of 2.95 million yuan ($428,000).

The mistake came to light in January last year, when guilt over the kidnapping drove the nanny to confess. He Xiaoping, 48, from Nanchong, Sichuan province, admitted to the 1992 crime.

When the case was reopened and kidnapping records were checked, the police identified Zhu as the mother. Another set of DNA tests were performed - this time accurately.

The new DNA test results, provided by the Chongqing police, show that the boy rescued in Henan - and raised by Zhu - has no biological ties to the family.

Zhu was devastated by the news. Since her divorce in 2008, she had raised the boy alone.

"Because of the faulty report, I stopped looking for my own son and raised a stranger's boy," she told the Chongqing Evening Post. "And he also missed the chance to be reunited with his own biological parents."

After consulting with legal professionals, Zhu decided to seek compensation from the court in Henan, which had made the DNA mistake.

"The Henan court infringed the personal rights, including guardianship, of the Zhu couple, of their son and of the presumed son from Henan," said Lu Lei, the team leader from Hezong Law Firm in Chongqing.

After initial negotiations in June last year, the Henan court agreed to pay compensation of about 120,000 yuan, including 50,000 yuan for mental anguish.

"This was far from what we expected," said Huang Min, a lawyer on the team. "In this case, the mental loss for Zhu is huge."

Huang added that in China, the average compensation for mental suffering is low, and typically arises in cases involving physical disabilities and death. It usually runs from about 50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan.

Zhu then filed a lawsuit, asking for 1 million yuan in compensation for mental suffering and 1.95 million for economic losses, including living costs and education.

"The Henan high court thought 1 million yuan for mental suffering was too high," she said.

The lawsuit was accepted in March by the Chongqing Yuzhong District People's Court, and on Monday the parties exchanged evidence and attempted to settle the matter through mediation.

But they failed to reach an agreement because of inconsistent standards of compensation. A trial date has not yet been set, Zhu's lawyers said.

In court papers, the Henan High People's Court, the defendant, said it deeply regretted Zhu's misfortune and is willing to negotiate and settle with her, to accept a proper, impartial verdict, and to take responsibility for the mistake.