An elderly man was killed during an attempted kidnapping by three village officials on July 28 in far southwestern China.
Guo Xingcong, age 59, from Laodian Township, Qiaojia County, Yunnan Province, was accused of violating the CCP’s birth control policy, and the three officials intended to take Guo to a hospital and to force him to undergo a vasectomy.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Aug 9, Yu Shunxiu, wife of the deceased, said she couldn’t understand this accusation, as she was now infertile and nearly fifty years of age.
“The three village officials dragged my husband to the front door of my residence. My neighbors told me that my husband was beaten to death there, and that the officials had fled from the scene.”
Guo’s son, Guo Zhengcai told RFA that two days before his father was killed, village officials claimed his parents had violated the birth control policy, and would be fined 10,000 yuan (US $1,630) unless Guo submitted to a vasectomy, but Guo refused.
“Three officials came on July 28, intending to kidnap my father for a forced vasectomy. My father quarrelled with them and was killed in front of our residence. When I got home that day, I found many bruises on his head and legs. The officials fled as soon as they realized my father was dead.”
Guo Zhengcai told RFA when the local government rolled out the new birth control policy in 2006, they began pressuring his father to have a vasectomy, but he kept refusing.
“My parents did not exceed the birth quota. There are two children in my family. I am the younger one and will soon be 26.”
Guo appealed to local officials to find and punish the killers. He refused to have his father’s body cremated, wanting to keep it as evidence.
As a result of this appeal, local authorities sent 100 security guards to block the entrance to the village, handcuffing Guo’s family members and forcefully removing the body for a hasty burial.
“Among the group of 100 people were the deputy county governor, deputy director of the public security bureau, and township head.” said Guo. “They placed my family under house-arrest. The entrance was blockaded and nobody could come in.”
In a statement released by the Qiaojia County government press center last Friday, it was claimed village officials Du Yuyong, Zhoa Xiaowen and Xu Fubin went to Guo’s home on July 28 to implement the government’s birth control program. According to the statement, officials found Guo Xingcong crouched down in the yard foaming at the mouth, and he died shortly afterwards. The statement concluded that Guo’s death was caused from ingesting the insecticide dichlorvos.
Officials said they quickly buried Guo’s body the following week for sanitation reasons, claiming Guo’s family had refused to bury the body.
The official statement differs markedly from the eyewitnesses account.
Translated by Leo Chen, Written in English by Christine Ford.
Copyright Radio Free Asia, 1998-2013. Used with permission.
Read the original Chinese article.
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