Suicide family's claim rejected
By Xu Chi |
December 12, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Shanghai Maritime University has rejected a family's claim for 350,000 yuan (US$51,255) compensation after a student committed suicide in her dorm, but it has promised to pay them money to help with funeral expenses, a school official said yesterday.
The family's claim attracted nationwide attention via the Internet, with thousands of Netizens showing sympathy for the student and her life of poverty.
A school official said they felt sorry for the student's death but they bore no responsibility for it.
The student's uncle, surnamed Wang, demanded compensation from the school including 50,000 yuan for funeral expenses and the rest for the student's mother to buy an apartment.
But Peng Dongkai, director of the university's publicity department, said the demand was unreasonable.
"Wang's mood is understandable but his expected compensation is too excessive and goes far beyond practical," Peng said.
The school would pay for the funeral and the cremation as a humanitarian gesture.
Yang Yuanyuan, a 30-year-old graduate student who majored in law, killed herself on November 26 by hanging herself in a dorm bathroom.
She didn't leave a note.
Yang came from a poor single-parent family in Hubei Province and she brought her mother to live with her in her dorm after she was admitted to the university in September.
But the university was unhappy with that arrangement and Wang accused it of forcing Yang's mother to leave before she found a suitable apartment. This had driven the woman's daughter to despair, according to a report in the Oriental Morning Post.
Wang said a dorm management staff member, surnamed Gao, was also to blame because he had been insulting to Yang's mother and had refused to let her in when she was looking for her daughter, the newspaper said.
Wang said Yang's death could have been avoided if Gao simply opened the door and the daughter had been sent to hospital in time, according to the newspaper.
But the school said there was no evidence Gao had treated the mother in a rude or violent way.
Yang received her diploma five years after she graduated from Wuhan University because it took her that long to save up for the 3,970 yuan tuition.
School officials said they had offered the mother an apartment in a nearby building for 400 yuan a month.
But according to the newspaper, Yang's brother said there was no bed in the apartment and the mother had to sleep on the floor.
The family's claim attracted nationwide attention via the Internet, with thousands of Netizens showing sympathy for the student and her life of poverty.
A school official said they felt sorry for the student's death but they bore no responsibility for it.
The student's uncle, surnamed Wang, demanded compensation from the school including 50,000 yuan for funeral expenses and the rest for the student's mother to buy an apartment.
But Peng Dongkai, director of the university's publicity department, said the demand was unreasonable.
"Wang's mood is understandable but his expected compensation is too excessive and goes far beyond practical," Peng said.
The school would pay for the funeral and the cremation as a humanitarian gesture.
Yang Yuanyuan, a 30-year-old graduate student who majored in law, killed herself on November 26 by hanging herself in a dorm bathroom.
She didn't leave a note.
Yang came from a poor single-parent family in Hubei Province and she brought her mother to live with her in her dorm after she was admitted to the university in September.
But the university was unhappy with that arrangement and Wang accused it of forcing Yang's mother to leave before she found a suitable apartment. This had driven the woman's daughter to despair, according to a report in the Oriental Morning Post.
Wang said a dorm management staff member, surnamed Gao, was also to blame because he had been insulting to Yang's mother and had refused to let her in when she was looking for her daughter, the newspaper said.
Wang said Yang's death could have been avoided if Gao simply opened the door and the daughter had been sent to hospital in time, according to the newspaper.
But the school said there was no evidence Gao had treated the mother in a rude or violent way.
Yang received her diploma five years after she graduated from Wuhan University because it took her that long to save up for the 3,970 yuan tuition.
School officials said they had offered the mother an apartment in a nearby building for 400 yuan a month.
But according to the newspaper, Yang's brother said there was no bed in the apartment and the mother had to sleep on the floor.
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