The father of a woman, who was sent to a mental hospital for vandalizing a poster of Chinese President Xi Jinping, suddenly died in custody, with authorities moving to cremate his body amid suspicions of violence, media reports said.
Authorities in central China’s Hunan province jailed Dong Yaoqiong in a mental hospital for splashing ink on a Xi Jinping poster in a protest broadcast live on social media, RFA reported.
His father Dong Jianbiao, who was detained by local police after he spoke about his treatment, died in prison on September 23, rights website Weiqanwang quoted activist Chen Siming as saying.
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Chen himself was detained after telling people about Dong’s death, the report said.
According to Siming, Dong’s relatives said his body was covered with signs of injury when they went to identify him at the morgue, and that authorities had cremated his body a few days later.
‘Mandatory Care’
Dong Yaoqiong was sent for “mandatory treatment” after he broadcast a live video of himself splashing ink on President Xi’s poster in protest against “authoritarian tyranny” on July 4, 2018.
She later committed herself as a psychiatric patient in the women’s ward of the Zhuzhou No. 3 Hunan. Dong Jianbiao, who was detained when he tried to visit her, had advised the authorities to pressure her mother to sign a commitment letter.
Dong Yaoqiong’s cousin told RFA that Dong’s funeral took place in his hometown of Taoshui in You Hunan county on Monday.
Dissident artist Hua Yong, a friend of Dong’s, said the odds of death were more than diabetes.
“He was a very strong-minded, stubborn person who was also courageous and optimistic… So we can definitely rule out the possibility of suicide,” Hua told RFA.
“Given he was alone in a prison with very tight security, he must have been beaten to death,” he said.
Hua said Dong’s insistence on speaking out about the authorities’ treatment of his daughter was likely a major factor behind her death.
“Dong Jianbiao keeps trying to see his daughter, and has been talking about her [publicly] many years. I think the authorities were waiting for an excuse to put him in jail, and just a year later, he died,” he said.
