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Three suspended in injured baby case
Three senior officials were suspended from their posts at Linzhou Public Security Bureau in Central China's Henan Province on August 19 after a policeman allegedly attacked a baby girl after drinking alcohol.

Investigation shows policeman drank alcohol before injuring baby
Police in Central China's Henan Province confirmed on August 19 that a policeman had consumed alcohol prior to allegedly throwing a baby onto the ground.

Policeman detained in Henan baby street assault case
The policeman suspected of hurling a 7-month-old girl to the ground on July 20 in Linzhou, Central China's Henan Province, was detained by local police on August 17, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Case Details

Reactions

Police in Anyang city, which governs Linzhou
Guo Fajie, the head of police in Anyang, told Xinhua on August 18 that Guo Zengxi has been transferred to an Anyang detention center and that a team is investigating the case.

Linzhou police
There has been no conflict between Guo and the baby's parents before he threw the baby to the ground.

According to Linzhou police, Guo's family has covered the child's medical expenses, totaling 40,000 yuan ($6,540).

Local health authorities have arranged subsequent tests for the child in Beijing.

Source: Xinhua – Global Times

Viewpoints

Media comments:

Global Times: Public power can’t stay shield of criminal acts
Refraining and segmenting public power under an effective and balanced supervisory system is what really matters. Guo is the chief culprit in the criminal case but the system and the people who shielded him are equally to blame.

Bejing Times: Cops toss law in Linzhou case
The Linzhou case also has raised concerns about how the legal system can be manipulated. Local police intended to deal with the case internally rather than punish Guo according to the law. This is an abuse of the legal system that large a social impact as large as the case itself.

The Chongqing Morning Post: What led police to throw a baby?
This case reveals how society dehumanizes as the wealth gap increases. The only way officials can win back the public trust after such a scandal is to promptly investigate the truth and reveal their findings.

BBC: China police officer held for 'hurling infant' in Henan
Social media have played an increasingly important role in demanding accountability from authority figures in China in recent years, say correspondents.

Weibo voice:

@badigo小强: Justice: Better late than never.

@小老太徐: I don’t understand why the parents didn’t take the baby to Beijing for further examination. Were they threatened or bribed to keep it quiet, as some media reports claim? The baby’s health is most important!

@liuz00: I hope to see the police sacked and sentenced. Everyone involved in the concealment should also be punished according to the law. I don’t want to see this case forgotten and have it happen again.

Lawyer:

"As to this case, even if the victim fully recovers, Guo Zengxi may still be sued for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble," Chen Tao, a lawyer from Beijing Junyong Law Firm, told the Global Times.

Chen added that the fact that Guo is a policeman is likely to be taken into account when he is sentenced.

Similar Case

	Time: July 23, 2013 Case: A Beijing native picked up a two-year-old girl and brutally threw her to the ground during an argument with her mother over a parking space in Daxing district of Beijing. The girl died from her injuries two days later. Police detained the man on July 25.

News Vocab

调查取证 diàochá qǔzhèng

“调查” v. inquire/look into; investigate; survey（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）

“取证” v. collect/gather evidence（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）

“调查取证” v. conduct investigation and obtain evidence（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）

Webeditor: guwei@globaltimes.com.cn