A retired official in Hunan was cast into the Party’s notorious shuanggui disciplinary system in August after accusing his successor of embezzling public funds. A month later, Wang Zhongping was dead, and his family believes he was murdered. From Ministry of Tofu’s Jing Gao:
According to the police, at around 4:30 p.m. on September 26, Wang was discovered by the to have hanged himself while taking a shower in the bathroom. He was rushed to the emergency room by an ambulance at 5 p.m. and pronounced dead at 7:03 p.m. by the hospital staff.
[…] When Wang’s family arrived, they found multiple bruises clearly visible on his arms, legs and back. Deep strangulation marks could also been seen on his neck. His family was convinced that Wang’s death was a murder.
[…] Most netizens also seem to believe that it is a murder instead of a suicide, with a few exceptions who claimed the “bruises” are in fact only normal livor mortis, or postmortem lividity. One exclaimed, “During Shuanggui procedure, they torture (suspects) to death! Never buy the version in those movies!” Another chimed in, “Inspectors, you guys are as fierce as Japanese bandits!” Another lamented, “Anyone understands that better a live coward than a dead hero. But he really had to die.”
Wang’s case echoes that of Li Wangyang, a labour activist who ostensibly committed suicide in hospital in June, despite having defiantly stated days before that “I won’t retreat, even if I am beheaded.”