Girl handcuffed and paraded, micro blog claims

An official and a policeman were suspended from their posts and investigated after a comment on a micro blog said they handcuffed a 13-year-old girl and made her parade through the streets in Guizhou province, Xinhuanet.cn reported on Tuesday.

The micro blog, triggering wide online reaction on Monday, claimed that a 13-year-old girl was handcuffed in April and paraded down a street for 20 minutes after she poured water onto a government car and argued with officials.

One of the men suspended, Yuan Zehong, Party secretary of Kele town, admitted that the girl was handcuffed, but said she was not forced to parade on the street.

Yuan was quoted by Sichuan Daily as saying that the incident was more complicated than reported on the blog.

The incident apparently arose from a dispute over the family stall, according to the Sichuan Daily.

The stall owner, the girl's father, was asked to move an umbrella that was placed out of line. He refused the request of an inspection team headed by Jin Qi.

During the argument, the girl splashed a basin of dirty water onto the inspection team's car that had a window open. The water drenched the town's deputy head Wang Mei who was sitting inside the car and taking evidence through a DV.

Wang got out of the car to argue with the girl, but was surrounded and allegedly beaten by the girl, her older sister and her aunt.

The town's Party chief Yuan and police officers were called to the scene.

The policeman, who was also suspended from his job, handcuffed the girl and brought her back to the police station.