Two high-profile cases bring people out to the streets to protest for prompt action and greater transparency.

THE Beijing city police have been under tremendous pressure as public outcry over two high-profile cases continues to heighten.

Hundreds of people staged a protest outside the Jingwen coat wholesale mall in the Fengtai district on Wednesday, waving banners and pleading for justice for Yuan Liya, a 22-year-old worker at the mall who died after plunging from the seventh floor of the mall on May 3.

The demonstrators comprised migrant workers in the city, Yuan’s family members and relatives and people from her native Anhui province.

An army of about 2,000 security personnel, including police and military personnel, heavily guarded the area and arrested some protesters suspected of disrupting public order.

The police said initial findings pointed to suicide but the protesters believe Yuan may have been poisoned, raped or murdered by her co-workers and they are calling for further investigations into the tragedy.

The protesters claimed the authorities had restricted coverage by the local media and the police had not given Yuan’s family a full explanation of what had happened to her.

They said the family had demanded from the surveillance video but to no avail, and this made them believe there was a cover up.

For the past few days, the Beijing cyber troops have blocked search words such as “Beijing Jingwen mall” and “Jingwen deadly plunge case” on the Internet.

Netizens joined in the public outcry spreading the news via the social network media like Wechat and QQ, which still enjoy a degree of freedom, and condemning the authorities for hiding the truth from the public.

To calm things down, the city police on Wednesday posted on its Weibo account that they had formed a team of investigators and experts to examine the scene, conduct an autopsy, screen all surveillance cameras in the area and interview employees who worked at the mall the night before Yuan’s death.

“We dismiss any possibility of poisoning, sexual assault or murder. Based on our investigation, Yuan was found to have committed suicide,” said the police.

The police also said there was no evidence that Yuan had been in contact with any person before the incident.

On the same day the statement on Yuan case was issued, the police had to deal with another case involving former Tsinghua University student Zhu Lingling who was poisoned in 1994.

Amid a heated debate over the case, the police revealed that the case remained un­­solved after two decades because of a lack of evidence.

“We appreciate the public’s concern about the Zhu Lingling case. We are sorry the case has not been solved and symphatise Zhu and her family for the hardship caused to them,” said the police.

In late 1994, Zhu was struck by a mystery illness that caused her severe stomach pain and loss of hair.

After four months of treatment, doctors tending to Zhu, then 21, finally found the cause of her illness and believed that she was poisoned after drinking water containing thallium, a toxic metal.

She battled through a five-month coma while her parents sought the university’s help to lodge a police report. Though now cured, Zhu still suffers serious neurological damage and permanent physical impairment.

Following a recent petition posted on the White House’s website, the case was brought back to the spotlight.

The petition, with over 140,000 signatures, alleged that Jasmine Sun had access to the deadly chemical and was behind the poisoning of Zhu.

It claimed that the poisoning case was mysteriously closed because of the powerful political connection of Sun’s family.

The petitioners called on the US Government to investigate and deport Sun whom they said entered America by marriage fraud.

The Beijing city police, however, dismissed claims that there had been intervention in the course of the investigation, saying that the police had tried their best to gather evidence and solve the case.

According to the police, they started their investigation after receiving a report lodged by Tsinghua University’s security department on May 5, 1995.

They said the police could not find any direct evidence linking the incident to the suspect, citing reasons such as a lapse of six months from the time Zhu was poisoned until the day the police received the police report, difficulty in tracing the criminal evidence and absence of surveillance facilities at the scene.

During their four years’ investigation, the police had questioned Sun, who was then Zhu’s roommate. Findings from the investigation revealed that coincidentally, days before the police report was lodged, Zhu’s dorm had been broken into and her personal toiletries disappeared.

In 2005, a netizen, believed to be Sun, posted a statement – titled “Sun Wei’s statement: Refuting the rumour that I poisoned my roommate Zhu Lingling” – on the Tianya forum.

In an interview with China National Radio on Monday, Zhu’s mother said she would continue to apply with the judiciary for the disclosure of information on the case.

• New SARS-like virus can probably pass person-to-person
• Time to end race-based governance
• Mah Sing's Meridin@Medini records pre-selection of RM261m (Update)
• Malaysian billionaires’ paving the way for sons
• Malindo to begin services from SkyPark terminal in Subang by mid-June
• Are you saving the pennies with great effort only to spend the pounds on things not needed?
• Coronavirus epidemic awaits, not certain to be severe - discoverer
• Merkel says has no secrets about her communist past
• City cabs can pick up KLIA passengers from Wednesday
• Man punches granny to death