Police illegally put divorce case woman in psychiatric hospital
Print Edition
A COURT in central China’s Henan Province has ruled that police illegally placed a woman in a psychiatric hospital where she underwent electric shock treatment and attempted suicide.
It is widely believed that Wu Chunxia, of Zhoukou City, was being punished for protesting about the handling of her divorce to authorities in Beijing, the Beijing Times reported yesterday.
On Wednesday, Henan Higher People’s Court upheld an earlier ruling that in sending Wu for psychiatric treatment without medical evidence Zhoukou police had broken the law.
The punishment police received was not revealed.
Officers dragged Wu from her divorce hearing at Chuanhui District People’s Court in Zhoukou City on July 16, 2008.
She was held in a detention center for 10 days then placed in Henan Provincial Mental Hospital, where she was given a cocktail of drugs.
Three times a week, Wu was blindfolded and underwent electroconvulsive therapy.
After 132 days there and several suicide attempts, Wu was finally released.
“My medical record says that my ‘symptoms’ were just running around and petitioning for three years,” Wu said.
Back in 2003, Wu had filed for divorce after her husband had an affair, but was unhappy with how her property was being handled.
In 2007, she took her case to Beijing, planning to petition the All-China Women’s Federation and the State Bureau for Letters and Calls.
But in Beijing, Wu says Zhoukou police, who had followed her there, held her in a hotel. Wu managed to escape and returned to Henan, where to her shock she was dragged from court.
“Several people rushed in, asking: ‘Who’s Wu Chunxia?’ I responded and was taken away,” Wu said.
Her time in psychiatric hospital left Wu with health problems and a burning sense of injustice.
“I couldn’t forget it. They bullied me too much. I had to demand justice,” she said.
In 2009, she sued Henan Provincial Mental Hospital and Xiaoqiao sub-district office, which was involved in having her admitted.
In 2012, Zhoukou Intermediate People’s Court ordered them to pay Wu 145,336 yuan (US$23,270) in compensation.
After hearing Wednesday’s verdict, Wu said she has now finally got justice and is looking ahead to finding a job and a relationship, the paper reported.
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