Around the nation: New Year's Day gifts from 'miserly God of Wealth' spurned
Also, student scared silly after watching horror flicks and dumped teenager comes clean about boyfriend's crime
PUBLISHED : Friday, 02 January, 2015, 8:04pm
UPDATED : Friday, 02 January, 2015, 8:04pm
A Chinese jewellery shop owner giving out precious bracelets was accused of being miserly by people who demanded gold instead. Photo: SCMP Pictures
ANHUI
Eyeballs stolen
The body of a woman who died in a home for the elderly in Huangshan city was found with her eyeballs missing, Anhuinews.com reports. The 84-year-old woman died on Tuesday, just days after she moved into the home. Her sons found her eyeballs missing when they arrived at the home. Police are investigating the matter.
Drunk driver banned
A Chizhou bus driver had his licence revoked after he was found drunk on the job, Anhuinews.com reports. His blood alcohol level was found to be above the legal limit after he got into an accident this week. The driver said he was trying to drown his sorrows in drink because his wife was dying of cancer. He has been banned from driving for 10 years.
BEIJING
Fireworks sales lack spark
Sales of fireworks in Beijing are expected to shrink 30 per cent this Lunar New Year as the city government halves the sales period to 10 days, The Beijing News reports. A fireworks wholesale dealer said sales had been falling for five years as fewer people were buying them due to environmental concerns. Environmentally friendly fireworks like those used during last year’s Apec meeting will also be available for sale.
Vehicles catch fire
Three cars and an electric bicycle were destroyed after a pile of garbage near them caught fire in a Chaoyang residential community on New Year’s Eve, the Beijing Times reports. Firefighters were called after residents failed to put out the fire. No one was injured.
CHONGQING
Kerosene on train
A man was detained for five days after he tried to sneak bottles of kerosene onto a train, Xinhua reports. Railway officials questioned the man about two mineral-water bottles he was carrying, after he was found behaving suspiciously. He said he had bought them from a shop but refused to drink the “water”. He later admitted that he had wanted to use the kerosene to light his cigarettes.
Face-saving project
A man in Nanchuan district with a facial tumour that droops down to his shoulders, has been breeding rabbits to raise money for an operation, Wen Wei Po reports. The 24-year-old was born with the condition that affects his sight, hearing and ability to chew on the left side of his face. He said his family could not afford treatment and he had been breeding the pets for nine years to save up to “get a normal face”.
GUANGDONG
Killer’s suicide leap
A migrant worker is receiving treatment after he leapt four storeys off a building in Shenzhen, The Southern Metropolis News reports. The 26-year-old had stabbed his 19-year-old girlfriend to death before trying to take his own life, police said. Surveillance video showed the woman being stabbed more than 20 times within a minute. People who knew the couple said they had had a tiff before the incident. Police are investigating.
New bridge opens
A 2 billion yuan (HK$2.5 billion) bridge linking Shantou and the island of Nanao officially opened on Thursday, China News Service reports. The 11km link that took five years to build is Guangdong province’s largest cross-sea bridge. It will make commuting to Shantou more convenient for Nanao’s 70,000 residents, who often have to wait up to four hours for a ferry boat on public holidays.
HENAN
Student scared silly
A university student in Luoyang had to be sedated and hospitalised after she went into shock from watching horror movies, Lyd.com.cn reports. She had been watching the films in her dormitory when she started screaming. Paramedics were called after her roommates failed to calm her down. She was then sedated, but when her condition did not improve, she was taken to hospital.
Freebies spurned
A Zhengzhou jewellery shop owner dressed up as the Chinese God of Wealth and gave away 10 precious bracelets on New Year’s Day, Chinanews.com reports. But the crowd that gathered demanded gold instead and complained that the shop owner was being miserly. A manager at the mall where the shop is located explained that more jewellery was not given out for fear of people starting a stampede.
HUBEI
Corrupt officials sacked
Three senior officials in Ezhou, Huangshi and Jingzhou were expelled from the Communist Party after being investigated for graft, Xinhua reports. They were accused of taking bribes, the provincial disciplinary inspection commission said. Evidence of their crimes has been given to prosecutors.
Punished for pollution
Three environment officials in Huangshi were sentenced to jail terms of between two and six-and-a-half years for neglect of duty, Jcrb.com reports. Another four were fined 100,000 yuan each. The officials’ oversight led to severe heavy-metal pollution that poisoned 49 villagers and caused more than 860,000 yuan in economic losses. A total of 14 business owners also stood trial for discharging 684 tonnes of arsenic into the environment.
SHAANXI
Negligent judge jailed
A former judge in Weinan was sentenced to two years’ jail for neglect of duty, The Beijing News reports. Li Hong had approved bail for a murder suspect so the man could receive treatment for cancer. But Li failed to review the case after the man was found guilty and given a 10-year jail term, and the man killed another person while he was out on probation in 2012.
Teenage folly
A teenage girl jailed for 10 months in Hanzhong told police that she voluntarily took the blame for a fatal traffic accident caused by her ex-boyfriend, Hsw.cn reports. The 17-year-old said she decided to come clean after the 19-year-old man found a new lover while she was in prison. Police have detained the man, who hit and killed a woman while riding a motorbike in 2013.
SHANXI
Burnt by ‘love’
A man was arrested after a fire he started at his girlfriend’s home left a two-year-old boy badly burnt, Sxgov.cn reports. The man took petrol and lit a fire at the home in an attempt to kill himself over their break-up. But the fire severely injured the girl’s parents and the toddler they were babysitting.
Kidnappers foiled
Police in Shuozhou have rescued a girl and arrested her kidnappers, Sanjin Metropolis Daily reports. The couple had demanded a 100,000 yuan ransom from the girl’s parents. Fearing for their child’s safety, the parents transferred the money to the couple’s bank account as instructed, but also reported the matter to police. The kidnappers were detained while they were trying to withdraw the money at a bank.
