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Mark O'Neill

A peasant woman tried to kill herself after officials forced her to have an abortion five days before her baby was due to be born, her husband said yesterday.

Fighting back tears, Ke Senhai, a farmer in Kesishangzai village in Xianju country, Zhejiang province, said his wife, Xu Lie, had tried to commit suicide by jumping from the second floor window of the county hospital in the early hours of August 14.

The hospital gave a different account of events, saying Ms Xu had injured herself while trying to escape.

Mr Ke said that on the morning of August 13, a local official forced a doctor at the county hospital, against his wishes and medical judgment, to give an injection to his wife to kill the baby and cause her to go into labour.

Despite this, the baby was not born and the next morning, unable to bear the mental and physical anguish, Ms Xu jumped out of the window, suffering back, head and chest injuries.

Hospital staff performed an operation to save Ms Xu, but found the baby dead in her womb.

Mr Ke and his wife already have one child, a son aged five.

Mr Ke posted a dramatic account of events on the Internet, urging a media investigation.

He said the nightmare began just before midnight on August 13 when eight people from the local government surrounded the house where his wife was staying and forced her into a car.

The officials took her to two hospitals where they told doctors to abort the baby, but medics refused, saying it was unsafe.

Then they took her to Xianju County Hospital, where she was kept under continuous surveillance and separated from her family. Doctors initially refused to give Ms Xu an injection, but then relented.

Mr Ke named the official who gave the order as Chen Fengbin and claimed he was criminally responsible for his wife's suffering.

'The county has not been so strict in enforcing the one-child policy, making couples who had a second child pay a fine of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan (HK$18,900 to $28,300). The local officials pocket some of the money and give the rest to the state,' he said.

'The way the officials behaved was barbarous - surrounding my wife and not letting her family near her. We demand that the government pay all the medical bills. We are ordinary farmers and have no way to control these officials.'

A doctor at the hospital said Ms Xu was out of danger but would have to stay for at least a month.

'The dead baby was 3.5kg. I cannot say how long she was pregnant. Family planning is a national policy. We must co-operate with the local government,' he said.

'Xu did not slip from the window. She jumped as she was trying to escape. So we have no responsibility in this.'



Farmer tells of wife's suicide leap after forced abortion