Shanghai agency denies Russian teenage model worked to death under ‘slave contract’
Employers say they have not thought of paying compensation a day after telling South China Morning Post that claims 14-year-old had been forced to work excessive hours were ‘groundless’
A Chinese model agency has denied that a 14-year-old Russian model who collapsed and died while working in Shanghai had been on a “slave contract”, adding that it had not considered paying any compensation for her death.
As the girl’s mother prepared to travel to Shanghai to meet the agency, Zheng Yi, founder of ESEE Models, told a press conference on Monday: “We are doing what we should at this moment, from a humanitarian aspect.”
He also said: “So far both her mother and her [Russian] agency have not blamed us or required any compensation from us.”
He said she had been signed through a Russian modelling agency located in St Petersburg. “It’s not a big one,” said Zheng.
The girl’s mother and a representative from the Russian agents received their travel visas on Monday and will travel to Shanghai in the next couple of days, according to Zheng .
Zheng, whose agency hired Vlada Dzyuba on a temporary contract, told the South China Morning Post on Sunday that the teenager had died of sepsis on Friday and denied claims she had been forced to work excessive hours.