Society

Forced demolition death 'not deliberate'

By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-26 07:47

Beijing - Police claim a truck driver did not deliberately crush a woman to death a week ago during the forced demolition of her house in North China's Hebei province.

Meng Jianfen was crushed minutes after her mother, Hu Xifeng, consumed pesticide to protest the forced demolition by the local government of Zhangjiaying village in Xingtai city of Hebei.

According to the Qiaoxi district police bureau, which is investigating the case, when the driver, surnamed Kong, was steering the truck into the house, Meng tried to board the truck to stop the driver, lost her grip and was crushed after she fell off.

However, Meng's family insisted that the driver drove the truck directly toward Meng when she was standing in front of it.

"The first driver didn't dare drive foward as my sister was standing there, so they changed to an older driver and he drove ahead and killed my sister," said Meng Jianfen's sister, Meng Jianping.

Meng's aunt, Hu Qiaofeng, also had her legs crushed in the incident, requiring her to have surgery. Both Hu Qiaofeng and Hu Xifeng are now out of danger.

The police said the real reason for Meng's death remains unclear, as Meng's family refused to allow an autopsy to be carried out.

The incident, which the local government termed a "safety accident", occurred when Zhang Shengli, Party branch secretary of the village, led a demolition team to 30 houses in the village, which were considered illegal usage of arable land.

Zhang Shengli was not at the scene when Meng was crushed, but another man, Zhang Lige, who was leading the team, claimed that he was "sent to force the demolition by Zhang Shengli".

Zhang Shengli has since been removed from his post and the police are still "investigating if Zhang Lige was sent by Zhang Shengli".

According to the Beijing News, the local government tried to negotiate with Meng's family to compensate them for the accident, but no agreement has been reached.

According to other villagers, the accident occurred because Meng's family did not accept the compensation offered by the government for their house.

Among the 30 houses earmarked for demolition, eight households refused, though none of them fought as hard as Meng's family.

The incident was the latest in a string of tragedies caused by forced demolitions, which have been widely criticized.

The State Council Legislative Affairs Office has started making amendments to the Regulations on Demolishing Urban Housing, banning the use of violence, threats or illegal means to force the relocation of property owners, for example, by cutting off electricity, water, heating and gas.

However, the revision is still in process, according to the office.