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Teen found dead after police interrogation

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-28 07:38

GUANGZHOU: Authorities are investigating the case of a teen found dead after being questioned in a police station in Zhongshan, Guangdong province, earlier this month.

Yan Xiaoqiang, 18, was found dead in a reservoir on July 11, a day after he was taken to the Lanbian police station in Nanlang township of Zhongshan for allegedly being involved in a break-in at a local factory dormitory.

"He drank a lot with his friends before the attempt," a police officer surnamed Huang with the Zhongshan public security bureau told China Daily yesterday.

Police took Yan from his home for questioning on midnight, July 10, after a factory worker reported Yan had entered the dormitory.

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"We do not know what happened after we sent him back home. We are still investigating the cause of his death," Huang said.

However, Yan's family believed there could be some "undisclosed" reasons behind his death.

"He never intended to kill himself," Yan's brother Yan Xiaoliang said.

The victim worked in a local car test and maintenance company after he was forced to leave school four years ago.

"He was a good student, and was even awarded first prize in an information science competition," his brother told the Southern Metropolis Daily.

Yan's family asked police to show them the video record of the questioning in the police station, but police said they had not made videos.

"Did police beat him? Why was his body found in a reservoir so far from home?" his brother asked.

However, the local complaint office told Yan's family no signs of injury were found on his body after an initial medical test two days after his death.

In response to the family's questions, local police said Yan had confessed to his attempt to sneak into the knitwear plant's dormitory.

In a written reply to the family, police also said they had not used any form of torture during their questioning of Yan in the station. Police sent Yan home after two hours of questioning and gave him a warning, according to the written reply.

"We have investigated the police officers who were involved in questioning Yan. They did not beat nor threaten him," an officer from the Nanlang township public security bureau, who did not want to be named, told China Daily.

The officer said an autopsy of Yan by judicial doctors was ongoing and the final result would be issued within 10 days.

"The local procuratorate has been involved in the autopsy, to ensure a fair and open result," the officer said.