DNA test pinpoints culprit after pear strikes bystander

Police in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, recently solved a case after a half-eaten pear was thrown from a high-rise building and hit a passerby.

The city's Donghu district police department said in a WeChat post the incident occurred on May 9, when a resident surnamed Zhang was hit by the pear and sustained minor injuries.

After an initial investigation, the police believed the pear was thrown from a 15-story building nearby, but they found no witnesses, nor could they find any CCTV video feed that documented the incident.

Local police sent the pear to the city's criminal investigation testing center. Eventually, they were able to extract a DNA sample.

The police tested DNA samples of women living in the building, and found a woman surnamed Qiu was a match with the sample taken from the pear.

Further questioning and testing revealed the sample belonged to Qiu's daughter. The daughter left the half-eaten pear on the table and went to do some chores, then Qiu's nephew threw the pear off the building and accidentally hit Zhang, police said.

On June 29, Qiu apologized to Zhang on behalf of her nephew and compensated Zhang for their economic losses resulting from the injury. She promised to pay more attention to her children and not let similar incidents happen again. Zhang expressed forgiveness, the police said.

The police also alerted Qiu and her family to the potential consequences for throwing objects from high-rise buildings.

Since March 2021, China's Criminal Law has classified throwing objects off high-rise buildings as a crime. Those who commit the offense may face prison time of no more than a year in addition to a fine.

China's Civil Code states victims in such incidents may ask for compensation. If it's impossible to determine the perpetrator, everyone in the building shares responsibility, except for those who can prove their innocence.