Three officials in Shaanxi's Zhenping county have been suspended from duty after a forced late term abortion case sparked a national outcry.
Ankang city government, which presides over Zhenping, announced yesterday that county family planning chief Jiang Nenghai, Zengjia township chief Chen Pingyin and Zengjia family chief Ren Longchun would be suspended during the probe. They may face legal charges or administrative penalties. Zhenping administers Zengjia.
In a statement issued online, the Ankang government also apologised to Feng Jianmei , the mother, for the serious suffering caused.
Earlier yesterday, the provincial government issued a statement saying the gruesome details released online about how Feng was abducted for three days and given an injection that killed her seven-month fetus were true and called it a serious violation of government regulations.
Details of the mother's ordeal after the parents failed to pay a 40,000 yuan (HK$49,000) fine for having more than one child, plus photos of the dead baby, have appalled the country.
In his online comments, the father, Deng Jiyuan, said officials had forced his 22-year-old wife into a car and driven her to hospital, where she was given an injection that induced labour and killed the baby.