Family members question Chinese probe that deemed the case a suicide. And many in China support them.
A months-long probe over the death of a Chinese medical whistleblower ended with authorities labeling it a suicide. But neither the parents nor the public are convinced.
Luo Shuaiyu, a medical intern at the Second Xiangya Hospital, was weeks short of completing his graduate study when he was found dead outside his school dormitory building in May 2024, with two buttons missing from his shirt and broken glasses on his bed.
His death occurred amid the investigation of a Chinese physician from the same hospital who had operated on patients who didn’t require surgery. The physician, Liu Xiangfeng, was sentenced to 17 years in prison months after Luo’s death.
Luo had collected a large trove of materials implicating Liu and others in the hospital in intentionally harming patients and engaging in organ trade.
A person close to the Luo family told The Epoch Times that Luo had resisted complying with the hospital’s demands to find child donor organs. He died just after he expressed his intention to report the hospital.
In a June report on the probe, Chinese officials, along with the hospital-affiliated Central South University, jointly concluded that Luo had jumped off the building.
Luo’s parents, who are dedicated to uncovering the cause of their son’s death, found the authorities’ pronouncement hard to accept.
“Not much issue here, just that the announcement doesn’t line up with reality,” Luo’s father wrote on Chinese social media Weibo.
The Luo family later issued a joint statement challenging the official narrative. The makeup of the investigation group itself already had conflicts of interest, they said. Aside from the university having a stake in the matter, the family suspected bias in at least one other team involved in the probe. A branch of the Changsha public security bureau that co-led the effort had previously dismissed suspicions around Luo’s death.
“This investigation is, at its core, them investigating themselves,” the statement read.
Many among the Chinese populace appear to agree. The social media posts from the Luo family often generated tens of thousands of shares. One video from Luo’s father in which he thanked the public for their support played 14 million times.
“It’s us who need to say thanks,” one person wrote under the post. “You and your family paid a heavy price for this to come to light today.”
By Eva Fu
