Sichuan Normal University professor Tou Jiguang jumped to his death after having been reporting the abuse of power by the mayor of Chengdu’s Chenghua district to demolish people’s homes.
Professor Tou Jiguang of Sichuan Normal University, who had a double post-doctorate, died on Monday (18) after falling from a building on campus. Family and friends said that Tou Jiguang had gone through 10 years of forced evictions and various forms of suppression, and finally chose to fight to the death. Officials have gone to great lengths to maintain stability and pressure those in the know, but the death of Tou Jiguang, a former member of the media, has prompted former colleagues to stand up and speak out, saying the incident is another landmark demolition tragedy in Chengdu, following the self-immolation of Tang Fuzhen. (By Huang Xiaoshan/Cheng Wen)
Professor Tou Jiguang of the College of Arts at Sichuan Normal University fell off a building at the university’s Tianjiaping Building at 8 a.m. on Monday (18) and was taken to the hospital, where he failed to be rescued. Tou’s wife confirmed to the media in the afternoon that she is at the funeral home and is not very stable at the moment.
Mr. Wang, a close friend of Tou Jiguang, told our reporter that the reason for his suicide is known and may be related to the forced demolition of his home.
Mr. Wang said: that is, he had two sets of houses were demolished well, is jumped to suicide well. The beginning of the resuscitation is now in resuscitation failed to die well. His character is a bit stubborn, demanding the truth, must have an answer, a result. Later he went to the doctoral examination, learning ability is very strong, like to play Go. He was a theoretical and practical talent, and Chuan Shih University said at that time that they would give him a house and bring in talents, so they got him there.
Mr. Chen, a former colleague of Tou Jiguang, who served in the media industry before he taught, also confirmed that Tou Jiguang has been defending his rights since he was violently evicted 10 years ago, and more than three months ago, he also publicly reported online the abuse of power and violent demolition of citizens’ legal properties by the mayor of Chenghua District in Chengdu, Pu Fayou. But it is unclear whether Sichuan Normal University is also involved in the crackdown on Tou Jiguang.
Mr. Chen said: His pen name was Ma Zhiyuan. The reason for his suicide was because he had two residences that were forcibly demolished by the Chenghua District Unified Construction Office. These two residences, both of which were his legal residences. He had been defending his rights since 2011, and it had been 10 years. He graduated from the College of Arts and Letters of Sichuan University to Huaxi Metropolis News, and was introduced to Sichuan Normal University as a talent.
Mr. Chen also pointed out that even with a double post-doctoral degree and qualifications as a lawyer and journalist, social elites like Tou Jiguang could only be forced to fight to the death in the face of double oppression by government agencies and triad forces.
Mr. Chen said: Tou Jiguang wrote about his experience in defending his rights, and you can see how shady the demolition staff of those government departments are. On the surface, they reason with you, but behind the scenes, they use triad tactics. He is a doctor of literature, after a doctorate in law, there is no way.
And according to the actual understanding of our reporter, after the incident, teachers within the Sichuan Normal University suspected of being pressured, one of his colleagues to take an evasive attitude towards the incident.
Colleague: please call you just want to know about his situation, is not it? I just came to this side of the duty today, I really do not know much about this matter.
Sichuan Normal University Party Office people in response to the interview, then said the official release of the university shall prevail, and thereafter refused to disclose any information.
Sichuan Normal University: We are not very clear yet, you later to the official notice shall prevail. To the university’s notice prevails.
Our reporter called the Chenghua District Government again to find out about its violent forced eviction, but the agency refused to make any response.
On the case of Tou Jiguang fallen building, the police said that after the investigation and examination of the scene, the criminal case was ruled out, and the details are under further investigation. The notice did not make any mention of the forced eviction.
In October 2020, Tou Jiguang had reported in real name that Pu Fayou, the mayor of Chenghua District and deputy secretary of the district party committee of Chengdu, had abused his power and violently demolished citizens’ legal properties.
In the report, Tou Jiguang mentioned that since 2011, his family’s two homes in Chenghua District’s Qinglongchang and Wannianchang had been subject to “mock eviction” and that during the demolition process, demolition workers had used threats, siege, suppression through work units and Internet rumors and slander to try to force a contract with them, “but the family eventually resisted the pressure and did not give in”; finally, Pu Fayou presided over an executive meeting of the district government and deployed the “violent demolition” of the two homes without signing a demolition agreement, initiating expropriation or applying for judicial forcible demolition.
Tou Jiguang is a doctor of literature, a postdoctoral fellow in journalism and communication, a postdoctoral fellow in law, a professor at Sichuan Normal University, and a first-level entrant to Sichuan Normal University’s 251 Key Talent Project. Before teaching at Sichuan Normal University, Tou Jiguang worked as a reporter and editor for two of the largest local newspapers, Huaxi Metropolis Daily and Chengdu Business Daily, and was later brought in by the university as an outstanding talent.
In 2009, Li Chuncheng, then secretary of the Chengdu Municipal Party Committee, was involved in a massive demolition that sparked a fierce confrontation between the government and the people, during which images of Tang Fuzhen, a woman from Jinniu District, setting herself on fire in protest of the demolition shocked the world. The death of Tou Jiguang is said to be another case of forced demolition that has attracted widespread attention after Tang Fuzhen’s death.
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