Chamber of horrors alleged at teen camp
By Li Qian |
February 18, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE head of an east China correctional center for juveniles with behavior problems has been arrested for allegedly torturing and raping students while charging them an annual fee of 50,000 yuan (US$7,940) each.
Teng Xiaohu, who runs the facility in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province, to help youngsters get rid of Internet addiction and improve their studies, allegedly forced girls to wear nothing more than underwear and offer him massage by turns every night and sexually assaulted them, the Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.
The 54-year-old man was also accused of beating students with an electroshock baton, forcing them to lick feces and to do more than 10 hours of heavy exercises every day.
Some boys suffered fractured hands and needed stitches on their heads, the students told the newspaper.
Children between the ages of 13 and 18, including at least one from Shanghai, had been sent to the center by their parents, the Xinhua news agency reported. The parents said they paid thousands of yuan in tuition for what the center billed as "character-building through ordeal and physical exercise," as well as "moral education and psychological counseling."
The facility was founded in 2006, intended to correct youths that their parents believed had problems being addicted to Internet, fed up with school, or fall in love at premature ages, according to the school's website. The parents have to sign contracts with the school as to the training fees.
"Three girls never came back after the Spring Festival and before Teng was arrested, only nine of us were left," some of the students said.
Almost every one of the nine - three girls and six boys - reportedly was a mass of bruises.
"The instructor is a beast. Four girls were raped, including me," a 16-year-old girl said.
Teng also forced them to lie on the cold floor while wearing only bras and knickers and poured cold water on them if he was not satisfied their massage, she told the newspaper.
A boy surnamed Pan has lost 14 kilograms in three months. He was ordered to sleep on the floor because Teng thought he made noises in bed.
"It is a routine for us to be beaten up with only underwear in the chilly weather," said one student. "He never taught us Chinese, English and math. Instead, we were told to recite the 'Teng's classic quotations.'"
The students were fed only vegetables and rice and had to finish their meals within 10 minutes, the newspaper said.
Teng even asked parents to bring him expensive cigarettes and alcohol on holidays and coerced students to ask for thousands of yuan from their homes as monthly expenses and then seized their money, students said.
Teng had been jailed for a fight in a martial arts school before he opened the rehabilitation center in 2006, a local resident surnamed Zhou said.
A local shopkeeper surnamed Yang said: "I saw Teng tell boys to kneel down to clean his van and slap their faces in public. Poor children seemed so numb and no one dared to fight for their lives."
Fearful of being caught, both for his criminal past and his brutal manners, he kept an eye on students, checking their letters, accompanying them when they met their parents and monitoring their phone calls, the newspaper said.
"He put up iron bars to block every window and ventilator. We never knew what was happening inside. It's a mysterious place," a local resident told the paper.
The nine students decided to escape on Thursday, but only one boy and two girls succeeded. One of the girls went with her father to report the abuse to police. The escaped boy surnamed Zou is still missing.
Teng Xiaohu, who runs the facility in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province, to help youngsters get rid of Internet addiction and improve their studies, allegedly forced girls to wear nothing more than underwear and offer him massage by turns every night and sexually assaulted them, the Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.
The 54-year-old man was also accused of beating students with an electroshock baton, forcing them to lick feces and to do more than 10 hours of heavy exercises every day.
Some boys suffered fractured hands and needed stitches on their heads, the students told the newspaper.
Children between the ages of 13 and 18, including at least one from Shanghai, had been sent to the center by their parents, the Xinhua news agency reported. The parents said they paid thousands of yuan in tuition for what the center billed as "character-building through ordeal and physical exercise," as well as "moral education and psychological counseling."
The facility was founded in 2006, intended to correct youths that their parents believed had problems being addicted to Internet, fed up with school, or fall in love at premature ages, according to the school's website. The parents have to sign contracts with the school as to the training fees.
"Three girls never came back after the Spring Festival and before Teng was arrested, only nine of us were left," some of the students said.
Almost every one of the nine - three girls and six boys - reportedly was a mass of bruises.
"The instructor is a beast. Four girls were raped, including me," a 16-year-old girl said.
Teng also forced them to lie on the cold floor while wearing only bras and knickers and poured cold water on them if he was not satisfied their massage, she told the newspaper.
A boy surnamed Pan has lost 14 kilograms in three months. He was ordered to sleep on the floor because Teng thought he made noises in bed.
"It is a routine for us to be beaten up with only underwear in the chilly weather," said one student. "He never taught us Chinese, English and math. Instead, we were told to recite the 'Teng's classic quotations.'"
The students were fed only vegetables and rice and had to finish their meals within 10 minutes, the newspaper said.
Teng even asked parents to bring him expensive cigarettes and alcohol on holidays and coerced students to ask for thousands of yuan from their homes as monthly expenses and then seized their money, students said.
Teng had been jailed for a fight in a martial arts school before he opened the rehabilitation center in 2006, a local resident surnamed Zhou said.
A local shopkeeper surnamed Yang said: "I saw Teng tell boys to kneel down to clean his van and slap their faces in public. Poor children seemed so numb and no one dared to fight for their lives."
Fearful of being caught, both for his criminal past and his brutal manners, he kept an eye on students, checking their letters, accompanying them when they met their parents and monitoring their phone calls, the newspaper said.
"He put up iron bars to block every window and ventilator. We never knew what was happening inside. It's a mysterious place," a local resident told the paper.
The nine students decided to escape on Thursday, but only one boy and two girls succeeded. One of the girls went with her father to report the abuse to police. The escaped boy surnamed Zou is still missing.
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