A Beijing district court has sentenced two local policemen for
dereliction of duty, which led to the death of a homeless
woman.
The Tongzhou district court in eastern Beijing has sentenced
Tian Xiuchi, political commissar of the Yongledian Town police
office, to one year in prison, and Liu Yang, a policeman in the
office, to six months in prison. Both were given a one-year
reprieve, the Beijing News reported on Monday.
The court heard that on July 4, 2005, Tian and Liu received
reports that a middle-aged woman was lying on the street west of
the Yongledian town government.
The woman was unconscious and the policemen failed to find any
information related to her identity, the court was told.
Tian later ordered Liu and three security guards to put the
woman in the trunk of their car and drove her to a wood in
neighboring Huoxian Town.
The woman was spotted the next day by local residents. She died
of heart failure after being sent to the hospital, the court
said.
The court said the policemen failed to carry out their duties to
save and help the woman. The dereliction of duty was an important
factor leading to the woman's death.
This follows the tragedy of a 27-year-old migrant worker who was
beaten to death in a police clinic in 2003.
Sun Zhigang, a migrant worker from Wuhan City of Hubei Province, was found without any ID by
the police on March 17, 2003, and detained at the Guangzhou Police
Holding Center. On the night of March 18, Sun told the police that
he was suffering a heart attack and was sent to the center's
clinic.
On the evening of March 19, Sun shouted loudly for help in the
clinic, disturbing clinic attendant Qiao Yanqin who organized eight
other detainees in the center to beat Sun in turns. Sun was found
unconscious and died on the morning of March 20 despite receiving
medical treatment.
A total of 23 people from Guangzhou's public security system,
health care institute and public affairs system have been punished
for errors that contributed to Sun's death, with Qiao sentenced to
death for organizing the beating.
Sun had been working for the Daqi Garment Co., Ltd. in Guangzhou
and held both residency and identification documents, but he did
not have the documents on him when he was arrested.
(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2007)