A vocational school student in Pucheng, Shaanxi, China fell to his death, and a large-scale demonstration broke out in the area to protest and demand the truth be revealed
The local government report pointed out that the incident occurred in the early morning of January 2, local time. Multiple investigations showed that the student who fell from the building, Dang, was resting in the dormitory on the 4th floor. He was dissatisfied with being affected by the chat between Guo and Xu, and had a physical conflict with the two. However, at that time, the dean of education came out to mediate and then sent several students back to the dormitory.
The report said that just a few hours later, Dang's roommate got up at night and found a wooden stool under the balcony window of the dormitory. The sliding window was open and the mesh window was removed. Dang had fallen downstairs outside the window.
The Pucheng government stated that based on the on-site investigation, the possibility of a criminal case was ruled out, and it was determined that Dang died from falling from a high altitude. This result has also been informed to the family.
It is worth noting that this notice was issued at midnight on the 5th, three days after Dang’s death. During this period, the local government strictly blocked the news and cleared the video records in the mobile phones and smart watches of the witnessing students. It was also difficult to find any information related to the accident on the mainland social platform.
However, relying on the local news network, the families of the deceased and local residents connected with each other and began to spontaneously gather in front of the school to protest the official blockade of information, demanding that the government conduct a thorough investigation and restore the truth of the accident.
According to multiple videos circulating online, the scale of the protests that lasted for several days exceeded thousands of people, who confronted the police. Some people also stood on high walls and played suona, a musical instrument commonly used in Chinese folk weddings and funerals.
What is the truth?
Even before the official press release was issued, a suspected relative of the deceased had posted a long article on Douyin, which was then forwarded by netizens.
The long article stated that on the day of the incident, the mother of the deceased was notified to go to school, but the school did not explain the reason for going to school. After arriving at the school, she did not see her child for a long time, and she felt uneasy. Then she was taken to the classroom by a teacher and was not allowed to leave. After staying in the school for a few hours without knowing anything, the mother of the deceased was sent directly to the funeral home to visit the body of the deceased. At that time, she found that Dang had many bruises on his body. She tried to take pictures, but was stopped by the accompanying teacher. After that, she repeatedly requested to visit the body of the deceased again, but was also rejected.
In addition, the mobile phones and smart watches of the students who were aware of the situation were confiscated and the photos were deleted, but observation with the naked eye revealed obvious signs of a fight in the dormitory, suggesting that the deceased was bullied on campus.
All these signs are extremely suspicious, and they involve educational issues, which has led to thousands of people going to the school for several consecutive days to show their support and question the school: Why don’t you allow injuries to be examined? Why can’t parents be allowed to visit? Why did you delete the photos taken by the students?
The authorities have not yet provided any explanation or response to these public concerns, and there are no on-site photos for reference.
After the uncle of the deceased was taken away by the police on January 5, the situation at the scene escalated again. People shouted "release him" and demanded that the police release the arrested relatives of the deceased.
According to the video circulating on the Internet, there were fully armed police and ambulances at the entrance of Pucheng County Vocational Education Center. Amid the crowds, several vans were also shaken by the crowds.
The “official narrative” is questioned
Since China lifted its epidemic lockdown, the Chinese government has often used official formats such as police reports and situation reports to handle emergency news such as fires, traffic accidents, or social emergencies that are likely to cause major public outrage. However, due to lack of facts, incomplete information, cold and condescending wording, and abuse, these official reports, which mostly appear in white text on a blue background, have gradually lost the trust of the people, along with the government's credibility.
After the Pucheng Vocational School student fell from a building, the mainstream discussions on Weibo were those that questioned the "official narrative" and did not buy into it.
In addition, on the short video platform Douyin, the two keywords with the highest weight in Pucheng-related searches are "Pucheng County Vocational Education Center" and "Pucheng Vocational School". According to the Douyin algorithm, this is sorted according to the most relevant searches by users in a short period of time.
However, under the relevant entry, there are only two official press release videos, and the other on-site videos are suspected to have been removed. The same situation also occurred on the Weibo platform. Under the keywords such as "Pucheng Vocational School", there are abnormally no search results.
But on Kuaishou, a short video platform more popular among residents of third-tier cities, hundreds of netizens flooded the comment section of a video posted by the official account of the Pucheng County Vocational Education Center, asking: Is it safe to go to school here? Will I be pushed down the stairs?
The WeChat official account of Pucheng New Vocational Education Center previously recorded the school’s vigorous lectures and series of activities against campus bullying in mid-November.
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