Murder suspect's mom dismisses lawyers
- Source: The Global Times
- [10:21 May 25 2009]
- Comments
By Huang Jingjing
Zhang Shumei, the mother of Deng Yujiao, the woman accused of murdering an official and stabbing another in Badong, Hubei Province, has dismissed the two lawyers who volunteered to represent her, the county government said on its website Saturday.
Zhang and other family members were “annoyed” at the lawyers for “spreading a rumor Deng had been raped,” the notice said, adding that there was no evidence the woman had been raped.
However, Xia Lin, one of the two lawyers, told the Global Times yesterday that the announcement was “rather suspicious,” as neither he nor his colleague had spoken to Zhang because she was “taken away” Thursday by Tan Jing, director of the Yesanguan Township Public Security Bureau.
Xia also denied saying Deng had been raped, but said she had been sexually assaulted, which “in a legal sense suggests attempted rape.”
He said, “At 10:40 am Saturday, Zhang telephoned us saying the government's announcement was untrue and that she didn't want to dismiss us. But then at 4 pm, she called again to sack us, and refused to talk to us face to face.”
Deng, a waitress at a recreation center, is in police custody charged with the murder of Deng Guida and stabbing of Huang Dezhi on May 10 following a quarrel with the two men.
On Friday, the Southern Metropolis Daily quoted Xia as saying that “Deng Yujiao has offered some important details, and there is enough evidence to charge the officials with rape.”
He was referring to the clothes, including underwear, Deng was wearing at the time of the assault and which she had given to her mother before being taken into custody.
“We asked the police to take the clothes in as evidence as soon as possible, but they said they first had to speak to their superiors,” Xia said.
Despite being told by Xia to “protect the proof,” Zhang washed all of her daughter's clothes except her bra Thursday night, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Saturday.
Police took away the washed clothes and the bra Friday but “found nothing” and later returned the bra, Zhang said.
The newspaper report also offered an insight into why Zhang had been speaking to Tan.
“I was taken by Tan to help the police compile their reports. I was not threatened by police in any way,” she was quoted as saying.
Xia Lin and his colleague, Xia Nan, met twice with Deng Thursday. As they left the detention center after the second meeting, they shouted, “(the officials) have no conscience,” the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
“Just because she (Deng) wasn't raped, doesn't mean she wasn't sexually assaulted,” the Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.
“Any number of things, like a forced kiss or an unwanted touch, could have ignited Deng's anger.”
The Global Times' calls to Zhang, her husband and the number publicized by the Badong government to receive questions about the case all went unanswered yesterday.
A journalist with a local newspaper told the Global Times on condition of anonymity yesterday that on May 16 the Hubei Publicity Department ordered all local media to stop covering the case.
An employee of another paper, however, said the department had not told them to stop reporting but had insisted they publish only the words provided to them by a spokesman for the Badong government.