Former students call for full inquiry into ‘suspicious’ death of Beijing university alumnus in police custody
Alumni at Renmin University say police version of Lei Yang’s death after his arrest is ‘unconvincing’
A group of former students from a top university in Beijing is calling for a thorough investigation into the death of a graduate following his arrest for allegedly soliciting a prostitute.
Public pressure and suspicions over the death of Lei Yang in the capital over the weekend are mounting, prompted by differing police accounts of the arrest and a lack of an explanation over how the man died.
An online petition launched by alumni at Renmin University, where Yang, 29, graduated with a master’s degree in environmental science in 2009, said the authorities’ claim he died while trying to escape arrest by plain-clothes police officers was unconvincing.
“It is hard to believe that Yang, as a father of a newborn, would solicit prostitution while heading to the airport [to fetch a relative],” the petition said.
Chinese death in custody raises family and public fears of police brutality
“And the handling of prostitution cases should be done by uniformed officers who bear a proper police badge ... but the police in Changping district did not do that. It’s shocking.”