Man dead in police station supposedly hung himself while lying down

 

VNRN - December 30, 2014

A man suspected of theft was found dead in his cell Dec. 29 at the local police station in central Quang Nam province. The police ruled the death a suicide by hanging, even though the man’s body was found lying down in the cell.

Tran Van Tung (Trần Văn Tùng), 32, was arrested in the morning of Dec. 24 when he and another person were allegedly stealing telephone fiber optic cables. The other man allegedly got away. After question Tung, the police claimed he admitted to four other successful thefts of cables.

Tung’s body was found in the cell against a wall, hung from the window bars by the elastic band of his pants. Tung’s family, however, asserted that he could not have hung himself. Tung’s uncle Tran Van Dong (Trần Văn Đông) told local media that the window bars were “only 60 centimeters (2 feet) from the floor.”

The national police newspaper quoted Tung’s cousin Huynh Van Nhan (Huỳnh Văn Nhân) as saying he was found “in lying down position, leaning against the wall, with his head hung to one side.”

The family has requested an investigation. Colonel Huynh Song Thu (Huỳnh Sông Thu), the deputy director of police of Quang Nam province, confirmed that an investigation was under way. Tung’s body was transported to Da Nang, 25 kilometers (15 miles) away for an autopsy.

The case is nearly identical to a similar case in northern Hai Phong province where an inmate was also found dead and hung from a low window with his feet “not dangling,” according to a police higher-up.

Cases of inmates dying under suspicious circumstances have been increasing at alarming rates in practically every province in the country.

In September, Human Rights Watch issued a 96-page report detailing cases of death and injury in the hands of Vietnamese police, and found them “pervasive” and occurring “throughout Vietnam.”

 

 

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