A photo of the femal lawyer and her daughter Photo: Hongxing News

Chinese netizens were shocked by the news on Thursday that a lawyer from East China's Shandong Province was allegedly strangled to death by her 15-year-old daughter, triggering discussion of psychological problems and education in puberty.   

The victim, a lawyer working at the Qingdao-based Shandong Chenggong Law Firm, was stuffed into a suitcase after her young daughter allegedly strangled her to death, media reported. 

According to an obituary released by the law firm, the lawyer, surnamed Zhang, 45, was found dead at home on May 23. 

The Beijing News quoted an insider from a Qingdao Public Security Bureau as saying that the 15-year-old daughter, a high school student, was taken away by police as a suspect for further investigation. 

Several lawyers from the firm reached by the Global Times refused to give comments. 

The daughter believed that her mother was too strict with her, causing a conflict between them, police were quoted by Chinese media as saying. 

When the daughter was 3, Zhang divorced her husband and since then the mother raised the daughter by herself. 

"Zhang cared very much about her daughter's studies. She would pick her up and drop her off every day from school," a friend of Zhang surnamed Jiang told The Beijing News. 

Zhang had previously worked as a teacher before becoming a lawyer, and was seen as being kind and never lost her temper with her daughter, said a business owner who was close to Zhang. 

The tragedy attracted widespread public attention, with many netizens saying it reflects a common problem facing all single-parent families - children rebelling against being educated or suffering from psychological problems while the single mom was too busy at work. 

Liu Changsong, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the Global Times that the age of 15 is particularly susceptible to feelings of rebelliousness. The method of communication between the child and mother can play a vital role in triggering irrational and radical behaviors in a child. 

While people were startled by the tragedy, voices calling for raising the age of criminal liability for young people grabbed attention once again. 

Liu noted that if the 15-year-old is confirmed to be the murderer, she will not be able to avoid criminal penalties. 

A person who has reached 14 but not 16 who commits intentional homicide, intentionally hurts another person and causes serious injury or death, or commits rape, robbery, drug-trafficking, arson, explosion or poisoning shall bear criminal responsibilities, according to China's Criminal Law. 

However, anyone between 14 and 18 who commits a crime will be given a lighter or mitigated punishment, the Criminal Law says. 

In recent years, the media has uncovered several controversial cases in which young people who committed serious crimes have escaped punishment as they were below the age of criminal liability.

Lawyers reached by the Global Times said the key to lowering juvenile delinquency lies in the support of guardians, school education and social support, which are widely believed by netizens to be the reason why the daughter killed her mother in such a cruel way.