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The television journalist keeps her face away from the camera after being interviewed by the alleged assault. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Public outcry after Chinese policeman allegedly assaults television journalist in police station

The alleged assault of a woman television journalist by a police inspector in northern China has sparked a public outcry, mainland media reports.

The woman was reportedly knocked to the floor by the policeman in his office as he tried to confiscate two mobile phones she had been using to record him during an interview, the news website Chinayouth.com reported on Thursday.

Two other officers stood guard outside to stop her colleagues coming to help on April 14, according to the article

She was kept in hospital in Harbin, the capital city of northeastern Heilongjiang province, for treatment to unspecified injuries, the report said.

There have been other media reports in the past of heavy-handed treatment of news reporters by the police in China and this latest claim sparked a public outcry on social media with thousands of people condemning the alleged action of the police.

The woman and her colleagues, who work for Harbin’s state-run broadcaster, went to the police station for an interview involving a dispute between people featured in one of its reports and a Beijing-based logistics firm.

After discussions, the police inspector, who was not identified in the article, agreed to let the reporter go into his office without any cameras so she could watch as he interviewed people involved in the dispute.

Her colleagues outside the office later heard her calling for help, the report said.

Through a gap in the door they allegedly saw her lying on the floor crying while struggling with the police inspector.

Two policemen standing outside prevented her colleagues from entering the office, the report said.

The woman claimed she was able to leave only after her two mobile phones, which she had used to record the inspector interviewing people in the dispute, had been confiscated.

By the time the broadcaster sent two more teams of reporters to the police station, the police officers involved in the alleged incident were nowhere to be found.

One of the people interviewed by the inspector told the news portal he had seen the alleged assault by the inspector on the woman.

A member of the local public security bureau’s disciplinary watchdog, which oversees the police station, was quoted as telling the journalist to come to an unofficial settlement with the police involved in the alleged assault.

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