Woman petitioner 'detained' and raped
- Source: Global Times
- [01:45 August 10 2009]
- Comments
By Deng Jingyin
A young girl from Anhui Province who came to Beijing to petition the government was confined to a hotel by officials and then raped by a security guard, it has been alleged.
According to the Southern Weekend, Li Ruirui was detained on August 3 in a 150-square meter makeshift room at Juyuan Hotel near Beijing South Railway Station along with 70 people – all petitioners from Anhui, Henan and Shandong provinces.
The room was divided into several small partitions. Each partition has 5 to 6 bunkbeds.
Later that night, she was raped by one of the seven guards hired by officials from her home province to make sure the petitioners stay in the “hotel room” and fail to make contact with officials in central government about their grievances, which range from land disputes to employment rights and environmental issues.
Several people staying in the same room identified the perpetrator as one of the guards.
The hotel is located at the southwest corner of Taoran Bridge at the South Second Ring. The hotel is a four-story building with a big makeshift room hiding behind.
It is guarded 24 hours a day and mobile phone signals are cut off inside.
Petitioner Wang Chun said she saw the guard rape Li on her bunk bed.
“I initially thought perhaps the girl had started a romance with the guard but then I heard her crying and shouting,” said Wang.
“We are too weak to fight with them in the dark. The guards always beat us, especially the rapist,” said Wang.
Li chose to keep silent after she was raped as did the other petitioners because they were scared of the officials’ and guards’ reaction if they complained.
But the next day, some of the brave women in the room started banging on the locked door and called for help. Eventually, all those detained broke the door down.
Several people took Li’s bed sheet stained with blood to the police station nearby after breaking through the guards who had formed a human barrier to prevent them escaping from the hotel grounds.
The Yangqiao police station interviewed several witnesses and detained three suspects, including the suspected rapist and his brother, said the report.
Conditions inside the hotel are terrible, with just one toilet and the guards dish out regular beatings for reasons such as switching channels on the only TV without permission.
Shan Yajuan was a petitioner and used to be detained in a “black prison” in Beijing.
“I heard she was just 16. This case should be a reminder that the public need to pay more attention to petitioners’ lives,” Shan told the Global Times yesterday.
“Most people fleeing from this black jail have returned home,” Shan said.
Chinese citizens have the right to come to the capital and lodge complaints to the central government. But some are followed by officials from their home provinces and are illegally confined in “hotels” to prevent them causing an embarrassment or to provincial or county officials.
Some provincial officials have set up business partnerships with such hotels in Beijing for them to take in unhappy, complaining citizens.
Wang Anna contributed to this story
