Chinese man closes in on justice for ‘murdered’ dad as police find remains buried under playground
- Project supervisor Deng Shiping went missing in 2003 amid row with school principal, builder over cost of new playground
- Despite family’s pleas, police refused to investigate at the time
The remains of a man who went missing in central China more than 16 years ago after making allegations of corruption against a school principal have been found buried under a playground, according to a newspaper report.
Deng Shiping was a 53-year-old construction project supervisor at the Xinhuang No 1 Middle School in Huaihua, Hunan province when he disappeared in January 2003, Chongqing Morning News reported on Thursday.
According to his son, Deng was last seen in the office of Du Shaoping, a builder who had been awarded a contract to build a new playground at the school.
Some time before he went missing, Deng had filed a report to the local education authority in which he accused the school’s principal Huang Bingsong – who is also Du’s uncle – of corruption, after the budget for the playground project rose – inexplicably in Deng’s opinion – from 800,000 yuan (US$116,500) to 1.4 million yuan. He had also refused to sign off on the work carried out by Du, saying it was substandard.
Although Deng’s family reported his disappearance, along with their suspicions that he had been the victim of foul play, police did not investigate at the time, the report said.
For the past 16 years, Deng’s son – Deng Lanbing – has campaigned for his father’s disappearance to be properly investigated, and he recently achieved a breakthrough.
Student wanted for killing mother caught after three years on run
According to the newspaper report, Du confessed to killing Deng after being detained by police in Huaihua in April. It said that Huang had also been taken into custody.
On the basis of Deng’s confession, police sent a team to excavate the school playground and on Thursday they discovered human remains believed to be Deng’s.
The body has now been sent to a police laboratory for DNA testing, the report said.
On Friday, Deng Lanbing, who was just 15 when his father went missing, wrote on Weibo – China’s Twitter-like platform – that he hoped his family would now finally get justice.
“My father was persecuted and I am in pain because as his son I can’t clear his name,” he said.
“I need justice … We have waited 16 years … the authorities must tell me what happened back then. I want nothing but the truth.”
