On the afternoon of May 4, 2007, Yin Dengzhen of Shiyan City in Hubei Province contacted China Tianwang Center for Human Right Affairs and described how she was taken to a mental hospital for petitioning the authorities for the redress of grievances. She managed to escape incarceration with the help of local citizens.
Arrested for Filing a Complaint
Yin Dengzhen is a vegetable vendor in her local wholesale market. Displeased with the arbitrary collection of charges by general marketing manager Li Rongke, on August 30, 2004, Yin lodged a letter of complaint with the municipal authorities, the municipal industrial and commercial bureau, and the municipal price bureau.
When officials from these bureaus came to supposedly investigate her claim, Yin offered the materials she had prepared. But the officials seemed more interested in going out to lunch with the manager.
On August 29, 2004, Li brought nearly 30 market security personnel to the Yin’s rented market stall. They promptly confiscated Yin’s belongings and pocketed her revenue, which included 19,500 yuan (US$2,534) in cash and 14,700 yuan ($1,910) in IOUs, while they videotaped the entire process. Yin’s husband, Xia Jiazhi, got a newspaper reporter to come to the market, as police cars arrived at the scene as well. However, the police officers handcuffed Xia and threw both Xia and his wife into a police car. The police said the couple were arrested for seeking help.
The incident went to court, and Li was ordered to compensate Yin for all of her losses, but as of December 3, Li had only returned her money and has refused to comply with the rest of the ruling. He even declared that Yin simply lost the money, claiming that he had not taken it at all.
On September 11, 2006, Yin began making visits to both the provincial office and the Beijing office to complain about the unfair treatment she had endured. Each time she made a visit, however, local policemen gave her a brutal beating when she returned home. On October 6, 2006, Yin traveled to Beijing, only to be retrieved by local police a week later, and illegally detained for 35 days.
