Chinese policeman under investigation for allegedly beating woman appealing for compensation

Officer denies claim that he used violence to detain schoolteacher petitioning for payment after daughter was partially blinded at school

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Police in Feng country, Jiangsu province, are investigating a woman’s claim that she was assaulted by an officer sent to detain her at her home. Photo: Weixin

Published: 7:41pm, 6 Aug 2019Updated: 9:05pm, 6 Aug 2019

Authorities in eastern China are investigating claims that a police officer assaulted a woman seeking compensation after her daughter was blinded in one eye at school.

In a preliminary report released on Monday, authorities said the officer denied hitting Li Xiujuan, a schoolteacher from Feng county in Jiangsu province.

On Sunday, Li posted a letter on WeChat saying that she and her husband were “ready to leave the world” after none of her demands for “reasonable compensation” for her 10-year-old daughter and an investigation into police violence were ignored.

In March 2018, her daughter was blinded in her left eye when she was hit by the zips of two classmates’ uniforms. Li asked the school and the classmate’s parents for 360,000 yuan (US$51,200) in compensation.

Li Xiujuan’s social media posted included images she claims show evidence of the beating she suffered at the officer’s hands. Photo: Weixin

She rejected offers of 2,000 yuan and then 15,000 yuan for medical expenses and decided to appeal through a petition to higher authorities, The Beijing News reported on Monday.

The preliminary report found that the parents could not agree on compensation because there was no direct evidence to prove that the daughter’s injury was caused by her school friends.