Hebei officials punished after villager's suicide

Officials in a village in Hebei province were punished after a man, who the officials had asked to pay a penalty for violating the family planning policy, committed suicide.

Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday that Ai Liankun, Party chief of Gongbao village, was expelled from the Party while Hao Guangjun, director of the village committee, and Du Yunjie, a village committee accountant, were also punished for violating Party regulations.

On Dec 3, the three asked Ai Guangdong to pay a penalty of 6,220 yuan ($1,020) for fathering five children. The next day, Ai was found dead after drinking pesticide. The family planning policy in China allows rural families to have a second child if the first is a girl or is disabled.

The three officials were accused of imposing penalties on the villager without authorization from Qiuxian county officials, said Wu Haiqing, vice-president of family planning bureau of Qiuxian county, which has jurisdiction of the village.