Beaten watermelon vendor suffered 'brain vessel rupture'

An autopsy on a watermelon vendor in Hunan who clashed violently with city patrols has concluded he died from a ruptured brain blood vessel, caused by external force, Xinhua has quoted local police as saying.

But the seller, Deng Zhengjia , also suffered from a pre-existing vascular malformation in his brain that was the result of a congenital disease, the autopsy report said. It gave no further details about the "external force".

Deng and his wife were selling watermelons at a scenic spot in Linwu, a county under Chenzhou , early on July 17, when they were approached by a patrol of urban management officers, known as chengguan, who are responsible for clamping down on illegal street vendors.

Eight officers beat Deng, 56, and his wife, while one of them hit Deng's head with a metal weight, The Beijing News has quoted a witness as saying. An ambulance arrived, but Deng was already dead.

The autopsy report said the multiple injures Deng suffered to his head, shoulders, neck, back, waist and arms were "relatively minor" and "non-fatal".

Xinhua also quoted Yao Xiaoxi, a chief neurologist at the No 1 People's Hospital in Chenzhou, as saying that given the vascular malformation, the rupture could have happened on its own.