BEIJING: Chinese prosecutors have recently accepted an application to examine irregularities in the police investigation of an unsolved poisoning case that has long garnered public attention and interest for nearly three decades.
Zhu Ling, a chemistry student at Tsinghua University in Beijing, began experiencing symptoms of poisoning from the heavy metal thallium in late 1994. She was left paralyzed with brain damage and required 24-hour care from her parents.
Nobody has ever been charged in the case, but public speculation over one of Zhu’s college roommates — who was investigated by police and eventually released due to a lack of evidence — still remains high. Zhu’s death at the age of 50 in December last year sparked a new wave of condolences and an outcry to reopen investigation into the case.
Zhu’s parents handed in an investigation supervision application to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on April 15, requesting oversight on possible malpractice by authorities involved in the case, urging them to relaunch a probe, according to a statement released by an independent foundation that has assisted Zhu’s parents for years.
The application claims that investigators unlawfully handled and closed the case. They did not ascertain that the suspect was uninvolved in the case, failed to apply overseas travel restrictions and allowed her to change personal identity information. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
