Around the nation: fury as Beijing hospitals help unlicensed hearses overcharge grieving families
Hospitals in Chinese capital have encouraged people to use unlicensed hearses charging more than 1,000 yuan to take bodies to funeral homes when licensed vehicles cost only 100 yuan
PUBLISHED : Friday, 03 April, 2015, 6:04pm
UPDATED : Friday, 03 April, 2015, 6:09pm
Andrea Chen [email protected]
An unlicensed hearse collects a body from outside a Beijing hospital. Photo: The Beijing News
BEIJING
Hospital 'hearse' fury
Many hospitals in the capital have allowed unlicensed vehicles to carry dead bodies to funeral homes, The Beijing News reports. The newspaper received numerous complaints after hospital staff introduced bereaved families to individual drivers charging more than 1,000 yuan (about HK$1,200) for a trip. Drivers working for licensed hearses charged only 100 yuan.
Part-blame for fatal crash
A man from Fangshan, who invited a friend for a drink shortly before he died driving into a tree while drunk, has been found partly responsible for his death, The Mirror reports. A court found him negligent for failing to stop his friend from driving home, even though he knew he had drunk more than the legal limit. He was ordered to pay the man's family 60,000 yuan in compensation, according to the report.
ANHUI
Daughter-in-law killed
A man in his 60s reportedly turned himself in to police shortly after strangling his daughter-in-law in her Hefei flat, Anhuinews.com reports. The woman, aged 35 - the mother of an eight-year-old child - was found dead in her bed by other members of the family. Neighbours said the suspect had arrived in Hefei only days before to visit his son.
'Strangler' detained
A man allegedly strangled his business partner and then drove to see her family with her body in the boot of his car to ask why she was absent from work to try to create an alibi, Anhuinews.com reports. Surveillance footage later showed the woman getting into the man's car before her disappearance. Later the man reportedly admitted killing her during an argument and then dumping her body in a well.
CHONGQING
'Motorbike thieves' held
Members of an alleged gang of motorcycle thieves were caught after they started to argue while sharing out the money they made from selling the vehicles, Chinanews.com reports. Two of the alleged thieves reportedly hired a group of men to rob two other gang members after suspecting they had pocketed too much of the money. Police investigating the fight questioned gang members, who later admitted stealing motorbikes to pay for playing online video games, the report said.
Man drowns in manure pit
A man in his 60s from Rongchang county drowned after falling into a manure pit while walking home along a village road after a night out drinking, the Chongqing Business Herald reports.
HENAN
Grave visiting on demand
A man from Zhengzhou has opened an online business offering a grave-visiting service for people who do not have time to go themselves, the Henan Business Herald reports. Clients can pay for a video broadcast of ceremonies, showing joss paper being burnt and other offerings, so they can see the graves are being respected. Charges range from 999 yuan to 2,600 yuan, with a special service featuring a man weeping beside the grave for one minute costing an extra 300 yuan.
Warning shot halts fight
A policeman from Zhengzhou fired a warning shot in the air to stop a street fight between two drivers and their friends, news portal Hnr.cn reports. The drivers phoned their friends for help during a row over compensation after a minor traffic accident. The warning shot was fired when two policemen arrived and saw about 20 drunk men with steel bars and sticks preparing to join in the fight. Seven people were arrested.
HUBEI
What doctor (didn't) order
A man from Wuhan used a fake doctor's report to make his ailing 60-year-old father stop drinking alcohol, the Chutian Metropolis Daily reports. The father had collapsed several times after daily binges of Chinese liquor, so his son tricked him into visiting a doctor and faked a report saying he had liver failure. On reading the "doctor's note" the father smashed his liquor bottle and vowed to give up drinking.
Student dies exercising
A first-year university student from Wuchang died from a suspected heart attack after collapsing while exercising on a sports ground at night, the Wuhan Evening News reports. The young man was found lying unconscious beside fitness equipment in a park, but was found to have died before the ambulance arrived.
SHANDONG
Boy dies in building fall
A 15-year-old boy fell four storeys to his death in Jinan while climbing down window security bars outside a building after sneaking out of a class at a private tutoring centre, news portal Iqilu.com reports. The boy was found lying in a pool of blood on the ground and later died from his injuries in hospital. Police said the boy had climbed out the classroom's sixth-floor window and was trying to climb down to the ground, using the security bars on windows and balconies, when he fell. The tutoring centre has refused to comment.
Teacher suspected of rape
A deputy principal at a middle school in Linyi has been arrested on suspicion of raping female students, the Qilu Evening News reports. The alleged scandal came to light after the mother of a pregnant child called the police and filed a formal complaint with the school. The local education bureau said inquiries had so far revealed only one alleged victim.
SICHUAN
Man held as farmer dies
A farmer from Dianguang village near Nanchong allegedly beat his 76-year-old neighbour to death with a stick after being accused of stealing vegetables from the other man's farm, news website Scol.com.cn reports. He was reportedly packing up the stolen produce when the victim showed up at his door and accused him of theft. The victim's wife claimed she heard his cries for help and saw the farmer beating her husband around the head. Police are investigating.
Apology for cat torture
Two university zoology students in Chengdu have posted on online letter of apology after a video of them torturing a two-month-old kitten to death went viral on social media, West China City Daily reports. They bought the cat from a pet shop and began torturing it after the retailer refused to give them a refund when they tried to return it. The students were shown pulling the cat by its neck and stomach until it stopped moving. The shop owner said the cat died soon afterwards.
ZHEJIANG
Man 'raped relative'
Prosecutors in Yongjia, near Wenzhou , arrested a man suspected of raping a woman, who was later found to be his distant relative, news portal 66wz.com reports. The suspect, 32 - said to be frustrated by his divorce - allegedly raped the victim after luring her to a secluded place while posing as the manager of a reservoir where she was fishing with friends.
Airgun retailer jailed
A man, aged 19, from Lishui has been jailed for four years and six months for building and selling airguns, Chinanews.com reports. He was caught by police after posting images online of eight guns, built with parts bought on the internet, which he sold for more than 9,000 yuan.
