Maritime boss gets sack over 'assault'
Inquiry into claims official molested girl, 11
A maritime bureau party chief suspected of molesting a girl in a Shenzhen restaurant toilet last week has been sacked and placed under investigation, the Ministry of Transport announced yesterday.
'Shenzhen Maritime Bureau chief Lin Jiaxiang has caused an extremely negative influence on society with his uncontrolled remarks and behaviour after he became drunk,' the ministry said on its website, promising serious punishment once the investigation was completed.
The decision comes five days after the former bureau head, 58, was overwhelmingly condemned for allegedly pinching an 11-year-old girl's neck and trying to molest her.
The girl's parents complained they had been offered 10,000 yuan (HK$11,300), that Mr Lin had advised them he had been sent by the Ministry of Transport and that he was on the same level of authority as the mayor of Shenzhen.
The victim's parents expect the latest declaration to accelerate the investigation and vowed to take him to court if police refused to place the case on file for prosecution.
'We don't accept any apology or mediation ... We have been insulted, and what we want is legal penalties and party discipline,' the couple was quoted by the Southern Metropolis News as saying.
'His behaviour has ruined the whole image of public servants ... and he has never apologised for it. It is hard to imagine that a senior official would molest a young girl. He is also a father and has his own child.'
The girl was granted time off from school for psychological observation and counselling.
But media reports said Shenzhen police had neither detained Mr Lin nor filed a criminal case because of a 'lack of evidence'.
A police spokesman was quoted as saying no closed-circuit television footage or witness reports could prove the girl was molested, but tried to offer reassurance that the case would be handled impartially.
Xinhua quoted Shenzhen police last night saying the investigation of Mr Lin was still under way and promising the results of the investigation would be made public.
Wang Jianhua , a vice-director of the maritime bureau, said it was a shock to learn about Mr Lin's alleged behaviour through the internet and apologised for what his boss was accused of doing.
The parents said footage captured in front of the toilet had mysteriously disappeared and the restaurant provided only footage taken inside the dining hall.
Mr Lin was released on bail, then summoned again for an inquiry over the weekend. He has turned off his mobile phone and disconnected his home telephone.
Mainland newspapers have claimed that a woman who was with Mr Lin during the alleged molestation was his mistress.
The Shandong native was appointed Shenzhen Maritime Bureau chief by the Ministry of Transport last year.
