Internet defamation teenager comes from very humble home

A teenager from rural Gansu province who became the first person on the mainland to be detained under controversial new internet defamation rules lives in a 100-square-foot rented room with his grandparents, said a lawyer who has volunteered to defend the youth.

His parents were away working in Beijing, so like millions of other children across the country he was cared for by his grandparents, said the lawyer, You Feizhou.

The old couple and the boy moved to Zhangjiachuan county's main town from the countryside so the boy could attend school.

The case of the boy, who can only be identified by his surname Yang, aroused national attention when he became first person detained since a judicial interpretation was issued last week that allowed the jailing of anyone who made defamatory comments online that were reposted at least 500 times.

Yang posted comments critical of local police over their handling of the death of a karaoke bar manager, whose body was found lying on a road on Thursday morning.

You, from Chongqing, and Wang Shihua, from Beijing, have volunteered to defend Yang and arrived in Zhangjiachuan yesterday.

In his microblog, You depicted the boy and his grandparent's home as "simple and crude - without a toilet or kitchen".