Chinese villagers and infant illegally detained for days after violating one-child policy
Villagers locked up at local inn after failing to pay fine for third child, media reports say
Three villagers and a 10-month-old infant in Shandong province were illegally detained by local birth control authorities after they failed to pay a 140,000 yuan (HK$177,000) fine for violating family planning rules, mainland media reported.
The illegal detention was brought to public attention earlier this week after a video was posted online, showing the detainees, locked in a house behind two gates, being freed by police.
On the mainland, family planning authorities can level fines against violators but are not empowered to detain them.
According to the report, the baby is the third child of Zhang Yongling, 39. Her husband Liu Tao was dragged into a minivan by about seven employees from the family planning office when he left home early on November 18, and they took him to the Xianghe Inn in Xihonggou village. Another villager, Tang Jingyin, was also detained in the same place, it said.
The officials then contacted Zhang and told her to bring a change of clothing to her husband. When she arrived on November 22, they detained her and released the husband. Two days later he sent to infant to the mother to be breastfed.