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Court tries 1973 zoo injury case
By Liu Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-06-16 22:14 As a 17-year-old trainee, Liu Shulan was bitten to
death by a hippo at the Beijing Zoo.
That was in 1973.
Thirty-one years later, Liu's mother Zhang Yuzhen, 86, is suing the zoo for
440,000 yuan (US$53,000).
"I was paid 700 yuan (US$85) in total in 1973 by the Beijing Municipal Bureau
of Parks," Zhang said in her indictment at the Beijing Xicheng District People's
Court Wednesday.
She said bureau officials vowed that the victim's family will be paid
compensation in the future when there is a State policy or law specifying
compensation for students killed by industrial injuries.
Zhang was paid 6,800 yuan (US$820) in three batches between 1998 and 2003,
she said.
Her latest lawsuit is based on the General Principles of Civil Law, which
went into effect in 1987, and a 2003 judicial interpretation by the Supreme
People's Court. The interpretation covers compensation lawsuits for personal
injuries in 2003.
Despite testimony from Tian Qingzhu, a former official with the Beijing
Municipal Bureau of Parks, that dealt with the accident 31 years ago, bureau
officials stuck by their guns.
"Zoo staff never promised to offer more compensation in the future to Liu's
family," Xiao Shaoxiang, vice-manager of the zoo, said Wednesday during the
first court hearing on the case.
He said the compensation of 700 yuan (US$85) in 1973 was final.
"Although the amount seems small now, salary and price at that time were also
much lower," Xiao said.
The zoo also helped the victim's family get a new house and arranged a job
for Liu's elder sister in Beijing.
The zoo's consultant Wang Houyan said Liu's accident was caused by her
disobeying management rules.
Wang also doubted whether a 31-year-old accident could be the subject of
litigation.
"Even if limitation began in 1987 when the General Principles of the Civil
Law went into effect, it would end by 1988," he said.
Wang also pointed to Ministry of Education legislation passed in 2002 which
says that student injuries already settled cannot be retried.
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