More Virgin Prostitutes

In China, it is said that the police are lawless in some places.  How would anyone know except through anecdotal reports?  Most of the anecdotal evidence is of the "he said, she said" variety, and it is difficult to say conclusively what is right or wrong except in the most obvious cases.  In a previous post, there was the case of The Virgin Prostitute, in which a young girl was accused of engaging in two acts of sexual intercourse for money and yet was certified as a virgin.  This absurd situation obviously cast the entire police case (including the young girl's signed 'confession') into doubt; the more absurd part was that she never got justice.

At ObserveChina, Yu Jie has given even more examples of virgin prostitutes:

Case Study 1:

On January 8, 2001, in Jingyang County, Shanxi Province, a young girl Ma Dandan was at the barber shop that her sister operated.  At the time, Ma was watching television with her brother-in-law and her niece.  Suddenly, two men entered and, without showing any documents or identification, hauled her out of the shop, threw her into a car and took her down to the police station.  Later on, Ma would find out that these two people were police officer Wang Haitao and driver Hu Anding.

Upon arriving at the police station, Hu dragged Ma Dandan outside and handcuffed her hands behind her back to the pole for the basketball backboard.  Hu also gave her a couple of slaps to the face.  Ma Dandan refused to admit to prostitution, so Hu said: "Then you can stay here and enjoy yourself!"  

Sometime after 1am, Wang came back and uncuffed her, and brought her back into inside and told her to confess.  She refused.  A while later, Wang handcuffed with her hands behind her back to a light pole on the outside, and then he started to say obscene and dirty things to her while touching her body.  Ma told him: "You have sisters too."  But Wang replied: "But my sisters are not slutty like you are."  Then Wang took Ma back into his room.  

After Wang left, Hu came in and fondled Ma's breasts and face and even took off his own pants.  When Ma resisted fiercely, Hu took her out and handcuffed her a third time against the light pole.  He also found a rope and then hoisted her into the air.  Hu threatened her: "You would rather die than admit it.  Do you want to become the second Liu Hulan?"  Ma said, "How dare you insult Liu Hulan?"  Hu said, "I am going to abuse you and her together.  What are you doing to do?  Who is going to save you?"

Wang and Hu took turns to interrogate her until about 430am.  Then they got the police station chief Peng Liang to come in.  Peng walked into the office, slammed the door shut and said, "Tell me about this thing and I will keep it silent.  It will just be a small matter."  Then he started groping and tried to pull Ma's pants down.  Ma resisted fiercely: "I'm going to scream for help if you keep doing this!"  But Peng said, "Who are you going to call?  Who is going to dare come?  I am the king of the police station.  Whatever I say is what counts."  Peng kicked Ma a couple of times on the leg and slapped her face a couple of times hard.  Ma passed out.  When she woke up, she found that her pants were loosened.  Later, Ma was forced to sign on a document whose contents she did not know, and then she was locked into the Hu's room again.  She was released around 7pm on the next evening.

When Ma Dandan got home, the Jingliang County public security bureau issued a document that imposed a fine.  The document referred to the name Ma Dandan, but this 19-year-old girl was turned into "male" gender and the crime was "patronizing a prostitute."

Ma Dandan would eventually appeal to ask the court to declare that (1) the original verdict and fine by the Jingliang County public security bureau to be illegal; (2) the forced arrest and subsequent violation of the freedom of Ma to be illegal; (3) forcing the complainant to undergo a "virginity" examination to be illegal; (4) the interrogation of the complainant to be illegal; and (5) the application of instruments during the interrogation to be illegal.  The demand was for the court to ask the police to apologize publicly and restore the reputation of the complainant as well as making reparations of 5 million yuan for mental anguish.

On May 9, 2001, the court rendered its decision.  The court declared that the verdict, the fine, the forced arrest, the forced "virginity" examination and the use of instruments to be illegal.  All other demands from the complainants were rejected.  Instead, the police was required to pay compensation within the next ten days to the complainant to the amount of 74.66 yuan, medical fees of 1,354.34 yuan and lost wages of 25.67 yuan per day.  When she heard the verdict, Ma Dandan fainted.  The 74.66 yuan compensation was like rubbing salt in the wound.

Case Study 2:

On the afternoon of November 17, 2001, Zhang Dan was in the car driven by her manager and they were at Lixin Village in Dongying.  A police car appeared and four auxiliary policemen came out of the car and arrested the two of them.  The two of them were taken down to the police station, and the four auxiliary police told Zhang Dan to admit to prostitute.

One policeman grabbed Zhang's head and smashed it against the wall.  He hit her face, kicked her and struck her with his police baton.  Another policeman joined in.  Zhang was beaten dizzy and disoriented, and finally signed whatever confession document that they dictated.  The next day, her manager obeyed the police demand and paid 5,000 yuan in fines for the crime of "patronizing a prostitute."  On the third day, Zhang Dan went to the Dongying Hospital for treatment, and they certified that her hymen was intact; on the fifth day, Zhang Dan went to the hospital again, where once again they certified that she was still a virgin.

On December 19, 2001, the Dongying public security bureau announced that the four auxiliary policemen have been dismissed and the police station director has been suspended for lax supervision.  The public security bureau also apologised to Zhang Dan and made economic compensation according to the regulations for such matters.

Case Study 3: (see also Chinese Youth Daily)

On March 8, 2002, in Yancheng city, Jiangsu province, the female Jin Lei was arrested, dragged down to the police station and told to admit to prostitution.  The police officer identified as Zhou Yancai slapped her more than thirty times in a row, and use his boots to stomp on her heels.  When Jin Lei demanded an administrative review afterwards, the city public security bureau interrogated her again for more than thirty hours without letting her sleep.  The police told her: "You want an administrative review.  Your parents are going to suffer."  Jin Lei has been examined on four occasions, and she is certified as a virgin.

When asked how a 'virgin' can engage in prostitution, the response from the Yancheng city public security bureau was -- a 'virgin' can be a prostitute by offering fellatio and masturbation.  According to the deputy director, the public security bureau considers fellatio and masturbation for money as prostitution.  Furthermore, he said that in the examination done by the public security bureau, the expert had the suspicion that Jin Lei might have undergone an artificial restoration of her hymen even though that opinion was not included in the written report.

This is a self-contradiction.  If the police believed that Jin Lei was offering fellatio and masturbation as her prostitution services, then what was the point of the virginity examinations?

On March 10, Jin Lei's father had to go to the public security bureau to pay a 3,000 yuan fine.  His daughter was there, she hung her head low and did not say anything.  He said that he was ready to slap her.  Jin Lei was also subject to a 6 month term in educational reform.

On March 25, Jin Lei's father went to the detention center to visit her.  Because he forgot to bring his identity paper, the detention center refused his request to see her.  A female police officer told him that his daughter was going to get a medical checkup and was just getting on the car then.  He went out to the car and saw his daughter.  At that moment, Jin Lei tossed out a piece of paper from the car window.  He grabbed the paper and then two police men came out of the building and demanded the paper.  He ran as quickly as he could and got away.  The piece of paper said that Jin Lei has already been examined twice and found to be a virgin.  The note said: "Dad: I am innocent.  I was forced to lie because I was beaten to the point where I could not take it anymore.  I have never had a sexual relationship with any man.  I am still a virgin ..."

Jin Lei's father procured the services of two lawyers to seek justice for her.  But the lawyers found themselves lost in a legal maze.  According to the what the lawyers told the Chinese Youth Daily, they have not seen any case files or even Jin Lei herself after two months.  The lawyers have collected documents from the clinics where she was examined as well as spoken to a woman who was detained along with Jin.

BUt when the lawyers ask to see Jin Lei, they were turned down.  They went to the detention center to ask to see her, but the director said that the public security bureau has given explicit instructions that nobody is to see her.

The two lawyers then went to the public security bureau to speak to the leaders, and were turned away multiple times.  They spoke to the legal office director of the public security bureau, who did not know the details of the case but said, "Confession by torture is a high-voltage wire and the police would not dare touch it."

A newspaper reporter was more fortunate than the lawyers, because he was able to speak to the deputy director of the public security bureau, who said: "We believe that the evidence is clear that Jin Lei was engaging in prostitution services.  There is no issue of police torture."

On May 8, 2002, the lawyers submitted a written document to demand to see Jin Lei.  Not having heard back by May 10, the lawyers went to the detention center again and asked to speak to her.  They were refused.  They went to the public security bureau again, but were refused.  The public security bureau offered this reason: the lawers do not have the personal authorization in written form from Jin Lei to represent her.  The lawyers emphasized: "The reason that we do not have her personal authorization was due to obstruction.  If we cannot meet with her, how are we going to get her personal authorization in written form?"

The two lawyers have received anonymous telephone calls, to the effect: "You better not continue with this case unless you don't want to work in Yanchang anymore."  Even the reporter get a threatening call: "You reporters are the most despicable.  You better watch it."

The reporter wrote: "I believe in a socialist country ruled by law, the truth of this case will come out."

Jin Lei eventually withdrew her request for an administrative review.  There is no follow-up on this case.

In these preceding cases, everything hinged around the fact that the subject was a certified virgin.  What happens to a female who is not a virgin?  Is she 'screwed' then, figuratively, metaphorically and literally?  No, for there exist other classes of females who are considered unimpeachable.  Here is a famous case study:

Case Study 4: (Xian Evening News)

On October 28, 2002, Liu Hulan (note: the name was mentioned in one of the cases above) was helping out at a hotel in Zhenchuan Town in Yulin City, Shanxi province).  She happened to say hello to a male acquaintence.  Suddenly, a bunch of policemen appeared and accused her of prostitution.  They interrogated her and handcuffed her to a hot radiator for six hours.  In desperation, Liu Hulan attempted to commit suicide by swallowing her 5.5 gram gold ring.  She was sent to the hospital for medical care and survived.

Liu Hulan was not a virgin.

So why was her case exceptional then?

Liu Hulan was the wife of a member of the People's Liberation Army.  This case came to the attention of the commander of the Shanxi province military district who ordered the commander of Liu's husband's unit to deal with the public security bureau in Yulin City.  On January 6, 2003, the public security bureau agreed to pay 42,000 yuan to the family to cover medical expenses, nutrition, lost wages, transportation and other compensation.  

If Liu's family had not been satisfied with the offer (as in an offer of 74.66 yuan), an army tank might have shown up in front of the public security bureau office ...