BEIJING - A young couple allegedly buried an elderly woman who
was hurt but still alive after she was hit by their car, in a case
that has raised questions once more about moral standards in
China.
The man and his girlfriend, both 25, were driving home after an
all-night karaoke session on April 30 in eastern Zhejiang province
when the accident happened.
He got out of the car to check on the 68-year-old woman, who was
bleeding profusely, a person who saw the accident told Zhejiang
newspaper City Express.
He then helped the victim, identified as Madam Fang, into his
car, a black Santana, and said he would take her to hospital.
Meanwhile, the woman's son reported her missing after she failed
to return home.
Two days later, on May 2, Madam Fang's body was discovered by
workers at a construction site in Yuyao city.
'It's certain the woman was not dead when she was buried,' an
officer from Yuyao public security bureau, who gave his name only
as Zhou, told local media.
Police found an abandoned black Santana, which had bloodstains
in the back seat. Its number plates were missing.
A week later, the man surnamed Tao and his girlfriend were
arrested in her native province of Guizhou in south-west China.
'What's wrong with this society?' a netizen named Lianyang Wei
lamented, in one of thousands of angry outbursts on Sina Weibo, a
microblogging site.
The case reignited debate about the lack of morality in China
and is the latest in a series of widely condemned 'hit and kill'
accidents in recent years.
One of the most shocking involved 21-year-old music student Yao
Jiaxin who, after knocking down a villager, stabbed her six times
to make sure she died, back in 2010. He was sentenced to death and
executed last year.
'Another childish and foolish murder, the Yao Jiaxin phenomenon
is back,' said a netizen named 'health' on weibo.
Last October, a toddler was hit by two vehicles in Foshan,
Guangdong province. Eighteen passers- by ignored the dying child. A
rag-and-bone collector finally went to her aid. The girl died a
week later.
Traffic accident compensation laws here have led some motorists
to believe they will get off relatively lightly, financially at
least, if the victim dies.
In the event of death, an errant motorist pays a one-time
compensation. But if the victim survives, the motorist has to keep
on footing the medical bills.
Local reports said Tao's family used to be well-off but their
fortunes changed after Tao's father was involved in an accident and
the family's entire savings went to the victim's relatives.
'I didn't want to follow in my father's footsteps,' City Express
quoted him as saying.
