Parents of Net addict get 1m-yuan compensation over beating death

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-28 11:20

The parents of a Guangxi teenage boy who was beaten to death at an Internet addiction camp by a group of camp supervisors in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, recently received a total of 1 million yuan (US$150,000) in compensation, People's Daily website people.com.cn reported today.

Nanning public security authorities have arrested 14 suspects, including four accused of intentional injury crime and 10 accused of illegal managing crime.

Fifteen-year-old Deng Senshan was sent to the Guangzhou Lizhi Training Camp for Youth Growth in Nanning on August 1 by his parents to help treat his Internet addiction. He was to attend the camp from August 1 to September 1 in order to "get away from bad behaviors, regain confidence and establish positive life attitudes," according to an agreement Deng's parents signed with the camp. The training camp charged 7,000 yuan (US$1,024) and promised to "take care of Deng and supervise the teenager 24 hours a day in the first few days of training."

The agreement also stated that "the camp can take necessary means like punishment to educate the teenager, as long as the means are not abusive." But Deng was allegedly locked in a room by the camp's teachers the night he arrived and beaten to death.

The unlicensed camp was closed on August 7 following the death. A total of 122 trainees, all under the age of 18, have been taken home by their parents, according to Xinhua.