Beijing’s second group suicide in two months
Six petitioners tried to kill themselves in Beijing by taking poison on May 14. Witness said their suicide was a protest against the authorities’ legal injustice.
The petitioners are now out of danger after hospital treatment, but have been detained by local police.
The petitioners were found unconscious outside of a small supermarket near Beijing West Railway Station at around 7 p.m. Thursday evening. A witness working at the market told the reporter that seven petitioners sat by the supermarket from morning till dusk. When one of them, a pregnant young woman named Lin Qingyan came back from the bathroom, she found the other six lying unconscious on the sidewalk. Lin said all seven of them are from the countryside near Chongqiong City in southwestern China
All seven petitioners were sent to three nearby hospitals where the poisoned ones had their stomachs pumped. Early Friday morning, some Chongqing government officials stationed in Beijing took them away. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.
An official from the Chongqiong petitioner reception office refused to reveal further information, and told the reporter, “This is none of your business.”
This is the second group suicide attempt in two months. On March 4, six Fuzhou farmers aged 60 to 88 took poison near the Great Hall of the People on the Tiananmen Square the day before the National Congress opened, due to desperation from failing to get compensation for their houses and 700 mu (115 acres) of land that were taken away by local authorities in 2004.
However, their suicide attempt did not help solve the problem, but led to retaliation against their family members at home. The local authorities arrested their daughters-in-law and have detained them till this writing, whereas the responsible local official was only symbolically punished and his political power remains unaffected.

By Qiao Long
Radio Free Asia