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Inmate 'drowned in wash basin'
By Wang Xiang |
April 15, 2010, Thursday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
A SEVEN-DAY probe into a bicycle thief's death in a detention house found that he committed suicide by drowning himself in a wash basin, police said.
The Public Security Bureau of Hubei Province said top forensic analysts in the central province confirmed that Xue Hongfu, 55, drowned himself in a 46-centimeter deep basin in the Gong'an County detention house on March 7.
The investigation team ruled out accident or murder because Xue was unlikely to fall into the 0.12-cubic-meter basin at the corner of a yard and none of Xue's cell mates were violent, said Chen Jie, the county police spokesman.
Chen also said Xue "appeared suicidal" after he was detained, "smoking more cigarettes and eating less," Xinhua news agency reported. Xue had been detained for 15 days and was due for release three days after he died.
The explanation stoked public uproar on Internet forums amid a series of bizarre deaths in custody and a Ministry of Public Security campaign to prevent unnatural deaths in detention.
Three police officers were suspended after Xue's death for leaving a door ajar in his cell so he could walk out to drown himself, the report said.
There were no video cameras in the detention house to capture the incident. Police said the conclusion was based solely on pictures of Xue's body. His body was cremated two days after death.
An earlier report said police paid his family 300,000 yuan (US$44,000) to keep their mouth shut, but Chen said he was not aware of the money, without directly denying it.
The Public Security Bureau of Hubei Province said top forensic analysts in the central province confirmed that Xue Hongfu, 55, drowned himself in a 46-centimeter deep basin in the Gong'an County detention house on March 7.
The investigation team ruled out accident or murder because Xue was unlikely to fall into the 0.12-cubic-meter basin at the corner of a yard and none of Xue's cell mates were violent, said Chen Jie, the county police spokesman.
Chen also said Xue "appeared suicidal" after he was detained, "smoking more cigarettes and eating less," Xinhua news agency reported. Xue had been detained for 15 days and was due for release three days after he died.
The explanation stoked public uproar on Internet forums amid a series of bizarre deaths in custody and a Ministry of Public Security campaign to prevent unnatural deaths in detention.
Three police officers were suspended after Xue's death for leaving a door ajar in his cell so he could walk out to drown himself, the report said.
There were no video cameras in the detention house to capture the incident. Police said the conclusion was based solely on pictures of Xue's body. His body was cremated two days after death.
An earlier report said police paid his family 300,000 yuan (US$44,000) to keep their mouth shut, but Chen said he was not aware of the money, without directly denying it.
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