Anger Over Rape-Murder Case Sparks Riot in China

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BEIJING,june 29-Thousands of people thronged a police station in southwestern China to protest the alleged coverup of a teenage girl's rape and murder,witnesses and officals reported sunday.Last week,the girls uncle went to the public security bureau but was severely beaten by people who relatives believe are connected to the police,according to Internet reports.Two of the suspects are relatives of local public security officals,the reports said.Cars that had been smashed and overturned were burning in front of the complex which housed the local Communist Party committee,the county government and the local police station.The government has been anxious to contain such incidents,especially as it prepares to host the olympic Games in August,pledging to show the world it's prosperous,"harmonious" society,as the ruling Communist Party calls it.The Associated Press reported that officials walked the streets with megaphones and that local television stations were broadcasting pleas Sunday for participants to turn themselves in.An offical at the Weng'an County People's Hospital said five injured police officers were being treated there.The Reuters news agency cited a faxed statement from the information Center for Human Rights and Democracy that said the riot erupted after police used force to disperse hundreds of students who had gathered at the complex to press police about the case.The state-controlled New China Agency published a short story on the incident Sunday morning that said the chaos broke out after people were "dissatisfied with the medico-legal expertise on the death of a local girl student.Spasms of public anger against perceived injustices or government corruption occur periodically in China,but this weekend's riot,in the seat of Weng'an County in Guizho province,was larger and more destructive than usual.