Pupils cleared of pushing old woman over
Print Edition
An elderly woman and her son have been punished for extorting money from three primary school students who came to the woman’s aid after she fell, police said yesterday.
On June 15, the woman fell in Dazhou City in Sichuan Province, but later blamed the children who came to her aid for the accident and demanded compensation.
Police said they received a report on Thursday from the family of one of the children, who said they were forced to pay 1,000 yuan (US$166) for the woman’s medical fees after the incident.
After investigating, police concluded that the 74-year-old woman, surnamed Jiang, had fallen by herself.
Jiang was given a seven-day disciplinary detention but was exempted from the punishment due to her age. Her son, surnamed Gong, received 10 days’ detention and was fined 500 yuan.
“My son had great mental stress during the five months, which was triggered by the extortion,” one student’s father said after being told of the outcome. His son, Xiao Jiang, said he was now free of worry and felt happy.
All three pupils expressed a willingness to help the elderly in future. “Teachers and our parents always teach us that we should help those in trouble,” Xiao said.
Another, surnamed Yu, said he would help after ensuring there were witnesses present at the scene.
In a similar case in Guangdong Province on October 30, two senior high school students who helped an old man, surnamed Lin, after he fell were forced to pay 1,200 yuan for his medical fees.
One of the students said Lin had fallen when he was riding an electric bike and braked suddenly.
They helped Lin after the fall and looked after him for two hours after taking him home.
But Lin’s family went to the students’ school the next day and claimed they were responsible for the man’s injuries.
However, the school principal found a witness who proved the two couldn’t have knocked Lin over.
Lin admitted extortion and returned the money the students gave him with an apology.
China has reported a spate of cases in recent years about “good Samaritans” being framed by elderly people they helped.
Experts say the country needs to enhance legal protection for do-gooders in order to prevent such incidents from discouraging public acts of kindness.
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