Former Chinese investigative reporter beaten up by four men and left in coma
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 15 October, 2015, 2:09pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 15 October, 2015, 8:43pm
Andrea Chen
[email protected]
Yang Yanfang in hospital in Zhengzhou. Photo: Thepaper.cn
A former investigative reporter from northern China is in a critical condition in hospital after he was beaten up by four men, according to media reports.
Yang Yanfang, 46, fell into a coma after he was attacked on Tuesday outside a research centre where he works in Zhengzhou in Henan province, the news website Thepaper.cn reported.
He is being treated for internal bleeding in the brain and a fractured skull, the article cited the Hunan Renmin Hospital as saying.
Yang became famous after he broke a story about the wrongdoing of the city’s former top housing administrator, which eventually landed the official behind bars.
He reported that the daughter of the administrator Zhai Zhenfeng owned 11 flats that were supposed to be part of the city’s public housing scheme.
It remains unclear if the attack was related to the story.
Yang’s wife told The Beijing News that the police had told her they had captured one suspect who claimed to have been hired by two former subordinates of the former reporter.
She was quoted as saying that the police initially refused to set up an investigation due to the lack of a legal medical check-up.
“The forensic doctors said Yang had to visit their office in person for the check-up. How can a man in coma visit their office?” she said.
