Third-party autopsy ordered for man who died in police custody

The autopsy of a man who died in police custody after being held on suspicion of visiting prostitutes in Beijing will be carried out by a third party and monitored by forensic experts from the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate, prosecutors said on Friday.

Prosecutors have conducted a preliminary investigation, including inspecting the scene, interviewing relatives and police officers, as well as collecting video evidence, Xinhua News Agency quoted a prosecutor from the Changping district people's procuratorate as saying.

Lei Yang, 29, was stopped by plain clothes officers at a foot massage salon in Beijing's Changping district at 9:14 pm on Saturday night, a police statement said earlier.

According to the police, Lei refused to cooperate, tried to escape, bit officers and knocked down the mobile phone that was being used to record the incident. After Lei was taken into a police car, he jumped from the back to the front seat, kicked the driver and forced the car to stop, the statement said. He then jumped out of the car.

Xing Yongrui, deputy head of the Dongxiaokou police station, who was present during the incident, said previously that it took two police officers and four auxiliary officers about 20 minutes to subdue Lei.

On the way to the police station, Xing said, he noticed Lei had "stopped resisting and was very quiet". Lei was taken to a hospital at 10:05 pm and pronounced dead at 10:55 pm.

Beijing police on Wednesday denied using excessive force on Lei, and presented evidence that Lei had involvement with a prostitute.

Chen Youxi, one of the lawyers hired by Lei's family, said that Changping police should be pulled from the investigation because they have become suspects.

cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/14/2016 page4)