Woman dies after being taken away by Chinese birth control officials

By Associated Press, 5/19/2001 09:23

BEIJING (AP) A 34-year-old mother of two died hours after being taken from her home by Chinese birth control officials who wanted to sterilize her against her will, a relative said Saturday.

The officials told the family of Sun Zhonghua that she died Wednesday afternoon after jumping from a four-story window, said the relative, who asked not to be named. But the relative said bruises on Sun's face led him to believe she had been beaten to death, probably for refusing to cooperate with the procedure.

No one answered the phones Saturday at the police station or the birth control office in Songcheng village, in the southeastern province of Fujian.

Sun's death highlights recurring problems in China's fight to cap a population poised to reach 1.6 billion by mid-century.

While China has curbed abuses of its one-child birth control policy, overzealous local officials are still known to force women to undergo abortions or sterilizations and even kill newborn infants.

Authorities in Beijing call these isolated incidents and threaten severe punishment for local officials who go too far. They say most Chinese voluntarily adhere to the two-decade-old policies allowing each couple one child, and a second for rural families if the first was a girl.

The officials went to Sun's farm house Wednesday morning, saying they were taking her to a clinic for sterilization, the relative said. They had pressed her to do the procedure before, even though Sun had never been pregnant since giving birth to her two sons, now aged 12 and 13.

Sun had previously shown the officials medical documents saying she couldn't undergo the operation because of heart problems and high blood pressure, the relative said.

On Wednesday, they forced her into a car, ignoring the protests of family members. That afternoon, they called to say Sun had leapt to her death from the birth control administration building, the relative said.

He said the family has protested to police and local officials, who haven't offered any help. A relative would probably look after her children, he said.

-- Anonymous, May 19, 2001