Chinese family bound and gagged to demolish house
The family had refused compensation from local authorities for their home. Forced removal and demolition are a persistent problem in China, especially in its vast rural areas, after decades of rapid development and urbanisation. Home owners who refuse to leave have been beaten and even killed, making the issue one of the main causes of social tensions and unrest.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A family of seven in Hanzhong, a village in Shaanxi province, northwestern China, were dragged out of their home, bound and gagged, by a demolition team before the building was knocked down, The Beijing News has reported.
The family had refused compensation from local authorities. The latter responded on Saturday by sending a wrecking crew who tied the family members with zip ties and duct tape (pictured) and dragged them out of the house before it was demolished.
A relative of the family who rushed to the scene after receiving a phone call at about 6 am on Saturday found a mechanical digger knocking down the house, which was surrounded by several people holding clubs.
About 20 metres away, the seven family members were sitting or lying on the ground, crying and calling for help, with their hands and feet bound by zip ties. One of them had his mouth duct taped.
The relative was quoted as saying the house had been placed under a demolition order for the area as early as 2014, but the family had refused to move out because they were not happy with the government’s compensation proposal.
Police were call to the scene an hour later. They freed the family and sent them to hospital. One had a broken rib, while others suffered “soft tissue” injuries.
An official with the local government’s publicity department told the newspaper that the residents of the house, with a floor area of 301-square metres, would be compensated with four flats and 96,000 yuan (US,100) in cash. But the family demanded five street-level shops, four parking spaces and 1.2 million yuan in renovation and furnishing fees on top of that.
Four members of the demolition team were detained and police were still looking into the case, the report said.
Forced evictions and demolitions have been a persistent problem in China, especially in its vast rural areas, after decades of rapid development and urbanisation.
Home owners who refuse to move out have been beaten and even killed, making it one of the country’s most main causes of social tensions and unrest.
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