2 held after couple forced from home so it could be pulled down
Print Edition
OFFICIALS have confirmed a report that a couple from Xinzheng in central China’s Henan Province were forced from their home and abandoned in a cemetery in the middle of the night while their house was being pulled down.
Two men are being questioned by police, The Beijing News reported. It said Zhao Guanfeng and Zhao Lingjun were the main figures involved in the incident.
Sun Guangyu, head of the village where the house was demolished, has been suspended from his position and is also being investigated, it added.
Earlier, the city government had said the China National Radio report was basically true but it was investigating who was responsible.
CNR posted a series of pictures on Monday showing the couple in tears sitting among the ruins of their home. It said more than 10 strangers had broken into Zhang Hongwei’s house in the early hours of August 8 while the couple were asleep. They were dragged to a minivan and driven away. After being held for nearly four hours, they were left in a cemetery. When they got back home, they found it in ruins, CNR reported.
They are now living in a temporary shelter on the debris.
Zhang told the newspaper that he and his wife were in their underwear when they were dragged from their home. One young man shouted at them: “You dared to get in the way of government!”
The case triggered a public outcry with many people saying it was the latest case showing how the rights of residents were being trampled on.
However, a statement from the Xinzheng government published on Monday maintained that Zhang had broken the rules first.
He had failed to get official approval before building the four-story house in 2008. Four years later, residents in the area were relocated ahead of an upgrade of a nearby expressway.
Zhang was the only resident who had refused to move.
In January this year, Zhang’s house was again a problem as it blocked construction of a Metro line.
Village authorities were then asked to deal with the situation, the statement said.
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