Hearing begins for man accused of killing

The Harbin Intermediate People's Court began on Wednesday to hear evidence in the case of a 17-year-old who is accused of stabbing an intern to death and injuring three doctors at The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University on March 23.

Li Mengnan is believed to have traveled to the hospital that day from his home in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to seek treatment for a medical condition. His grandfather accompanied him on the trip.

A doctor in the hospital's rheumatology department refused to prescribe a particular type of medicine sometimes used in treating his condition, explaining to his grandfather that the medicine would worsen the tuberculosis that he also suffers from.

In the afternoon, Li returned to the hospital with a knife and stabbed an intern and three doctors in the department. Wang Hao, the 28-year-old intern, died after suffering a wound to his neck.

Li Lu, Li's grandfather, said that visit was the sixth time Li had gone to the hospital to have his condition treated.

Wang's parents and the three injured doctors plan to be plaintiffs in the court hearings resulting from the case. Wang's parents will ask for 864,400 yuan ($135,000) in compensation, legaldaily.com.cn reported on Tuesday.