Hard lives and bad deaths: rural murders put spotlight on China’s wealth gap
Gansu farmer allegedly killed her children and herself after being denied social assistance
China’s growing wealth gap is once again in focus after a woman in rural China killed herself and her four children, allegedly after being rejected for a government allowance because they were not poor enough, media reports said.
The tragedy in Kangle county in Gansu province was compounded when the husband was found dead in another apparent suicide, China Youth Daily reported on Sunday.
Villagers found 28-year-old Yang Gailan near her house on August 26, together with her four children aged three to six. All five were either already dead or died in hospital soon after.
The four children had been hacked with an axe before being fed pesticide, and the mother, who was accused of the murders, had poisoned herself, the local government said in a statement.
Eight days later, the husband, Li Keying, was found dead in the woods after taking poison, police said.
