A Chinese villager who died during forced eviction in eastern part of the country earlier this week burnt himself to death, investigators said today.
On September 14, Zhang Jimin, a 46-year-old villager from Donggu Village in Shandong Province, was burned to death in his home, while his wife Pan Jihui was illegally detained.
Locals had suspected that young men who were hired to demolish his house threw fire bombs and caused Zhang's death.
Linyi City, which overseas the village, set up an investigation team. Police, fire and criminal investigators interviewed more than 130 people and collected evidence from the scene before concluding that the fire were started by Zhang himself.
It was concluded that his death was caused by "local officials who had little sense of law, engaged in simple and rough way of handling things, and caused great harm to the lives of members of the public", state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Fifteen people, including several township officials, were arrested.
Villagers said that Zhang had opposed a compensation plan to take down his house.
Zhang Hongwei, deputy Communist Party secretary of Linyi, apologised on behalf of the government when he visited Zhang's wife and daughters on September 18.
He promised harsh punishment for those who violated discipline and law.
