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Chinese man detained over attack on doctors who refused to give his wife a caesarean

One medic was left with a fractured jaw and eye socket after assault in Beijing hospital

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There are frequent reports of attacks on medical staff in China. Photo: Xinhua
Alice Yanin Shanghai

Beijing police have detained a man on suspicion of beating up three doctors after they refused to give his wife a caesarean.

Surveillance video footage showing the attack on surgeon He Yingdong and his two colleagues went viral online after the incident last month at Peking University First Hospital. He suffered a fractured jaw and eye sockets.

The suspect’s daughter, a 19-year-old university student, was briefly detained but given bail after she showed remorse for joining the attack and the most seriously injured doctor expressed forgiveness, The Beijing News reported.

The assault was triggered when the father, surnamed Zheng, was told by He that his wife, surnamed Sun, should not undergo a caesarean on medical grounds.

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But because the baby was already late, Zheng feared complications and wanted a C-section right away rather than wait for a natural delivery.

He’s colleagues had previously concluded the Sun, 44, who has been suffering from hypertension for the last seven years could still try to give birth naturally because her blood pressure had been kept under control, according to San Jia Chuan Zhen, a WeChat account that specialises in medical news.

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The next day doctors relented and gave Sun a caesarean, delivering a baby girl.

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