Text: | Print|

7 land petitioners in pesticide suicide bid

2014-07-17 11:12 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Si Huan
1

Three of a group of seven people who attempted suicide by drinking pesticide outside a Beijing newspaper office yesterday are now said to be out of danger.

Reports did not give the condition of the other four members of the group, who are involved in a demolition dispute in the eastern Jiangsu Province.

They had come to the capital to petition the government and get attention for their dispute with officials in their hometown.

Passers-by saw the group of middle-aged people collapse outside the China Youth Daily about 8:10am and start frothing at the mouth. Pesticide bottles lay nearby.

Ambulances were called and took them to hospitals in the city. Three, including two men aged 48 and 56, are no longer in danger, The Beijing News reported.

An insider with the China Youth Daily told the Oriental Morning Post that the group came to Beijing to lodge complaints. "We found petitioning materials at the scene," the insider said.

The materials claimed that an individual called Cai Fuxi, a resident in the Qingyang Town in Hongsi County, had been placed in a "black jail" — where petitioners are sometimes illegally held to prevent them presenting their grievances in the capital.

Cai was among a group whose houses were to be pulled down but were unhappy with the compensation offered.

The petition claimed that on September 24, 2013, the Party chief of Sanli subdistrict led dozens of people to drag them to the police station.

There Cai was held for 52 hours without food or water and was not allowed to sleep, according to petitioners.

Finally, he gave in and signed an agreement, the petitioners claimed.

The petition was signed by a villager named Jiang Yanjun, confirming the accusations.

Jiang said the group came to Beijing a month ago to try to gain media coverage.

He said they had talked of a suicide bid, but that he knew nothing about yesterday's incident, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

Wang Jianbing, husband of one of the petitioners, said his wife had been illegally held for eight years over land issues.

Comments (0)
Most popular in 24h
  Archived Content
Media partners:

Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.