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The mainland's top censor, the Central Publicity Department of the Communist Party,  issued a gag order yesterday in an apparent attempt to head off deeper public fallout  after the  killing of a low-level official allegedly by a hotel pedicurist in Badong county, Hubei province .
'Hubei's case concerning Deng Yujiao has been under judicial investigation in accordance with the law, and news organisations should halt following up the case temporarily and call back journalists working in Hubei immediately,' the order said.
It came after the same department  issued a directive on Monday advising news outlets to report the case objectively.
The gag order came amid  an outpouring of support for Deng. The case has rattled the authorities in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen  Square crackdown on June 4, 1989.
Volunteer lawyers, student activists and representatives from women's rights groups signed letters and travelled to Badong to offer their solidarity and expertise.
Deng, 21, who worked at the Xiongfeng Hotel, allegedly stabbed Deng Guida   to death on May 10 after refusing his demand for  'special service'.
She was detained on a charge of killing  the official, but the stabbing has been widely seen on the mainland as an example of the treatment ordinary people - particularly women working at seedy entertainment venues - endure  because of official corruption and immorality.
In a new revelation on Monday, Xia Lin, one of the lawyers who local police said had been fired by Deng Yujiao's mother, said in his weblog he had filed a document with Badong police to press charges against Huang Dezhi, the official who was wounded in the altercation with Deng Yujiao. Mr Xia said Mr Huang had forcibly removed  Deng Yujiao's pants in the hotel's bathing area. He said he had been overwhelmed by requests for interviews but acknowledged last night that he was aware of the gag order.
The order came as no surprise to many, as it has become common at a time of sensitive anniversaries and protests on the mainland. But hardline control of media  has proved futile to some degree against great public interest. 
A reporter from a Guangzhou-based newspaper said he had been  told to leave Hubei, but he had decided to 'wait and see'.



Media gag order over stabbing