Chinese prosecutors have recently accepted an application to examine irregularities in the police investigation of an unsolved poisoning case that has long garnered public attention and interest for nearly three decades.
Zhu Ling, a chemistry student at Tsinghua University in Beijing, began experiencing symptoms of poisoning from the heavy metal thallium in late 1994. She was left paralyzed with brain damage and required 24-hour care from her parents.
Nobody has ever been charged in the case, but public speculation over one of Zhu's college roommates — who was investigated by police and eventually released due to a lack of evidence — still remains high. Zhu's death at the age of 50 in December last year sparked a new wave of condolences and an outcry to reopen investigation into the case.
Zhu's parents handed in an investigation supervision application to the Supreme People's Procuratorate on April 15, requesting oversight on possible malpractice by authorities involved in the case, urging them to relaunch a probe, according to a statement released by an independent foundation that has assisted Zhu's parents for years.
The application claims that investigators unlawfully handled and closed the case. They did not ascertain that the suspect was uninvolved in the case, failed to apply overseas travel restrictions and allowed her to change personal identity information.
On Wednesday, the foundation said that Zhu's parents received a text message from the SPP saying that their application has been forwarded to the People's Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality.
The procuratorate of Beijing also notified them that their application has been received and will be handled according to law.
Wu Chengzhi, the 84-year-old father of Zhu, said during an interview with Southern Metropolis Daily in April that his late daughter's case should not be forgotten because she was poisoned and justice has not been meted out. He felt a responsibility to appeal on her behalf and get to the bottom of the case.
The Beijing Public Security Bureau that led the initial investigation of the case made its most recent statement linked to the case in 2013, saying that the six-month lapse between the appearance of Zhu's first symptoms and the filing of a police report had impeded the investigation.
Without surveillance footage and physical evidence of the crime, police were unable to obtain direct proof to convict a suspect and could therefore not solve the case, said the bureau. It also denied political tempering with the probe and asked the public to take a rational perspective related to the investigation.
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