The areas that are now ready for medical appraisal will be assessed first, and the suspect Tao Rukun will be transferred to the Procuratorate for review and prosecution according to the law. For the damages that do not meet the appraisal conditions temporarily, supplementary appraisals will be carried out during the case litigation phase.
-- Hefei Public Security Bureau
An early report by reporter Fei Gong
A 17-year-old girl in Hefei, Anhui province has suffered facial disfigurement for over five months. Why has the medical appraisal been delayed for so long?
Yesterday, the Hefei police finally responded. The police stated that during Zhou Yan's hospitalization, they visited the hospital eight times to understand her injuries and treatment status. After her discharge, they had three meetings with her relatives to learn about her recovery. The police will conduct an appraisal on the damaged parts that currently meet the appraisal conditions, and for those that don't yet meet the conditions, a supplementary appraisal will be conducted during the case litigation phase.
According to Zhou Yan's lawyer, the medical appraisal results will be announced in a week. Yesterday, the Yaohai District of Hefei city stated that currently, the case has entered the judicial process and is being handled by the public security department.
Police notification: Supplementary appraisal will be done during the litigation phase.
The Hefei police notified yesterday that on the evening of September 17, 2011, suspect Tao Rukun (male, born April 1, 1995, student at a certain college in Hefei) failed in his pursuit of victim Zhou Yan (female, born August 15, 1995, junior high school classmate of Tao), developed a retaliatory mindset, poured lighter fuel he had prepared in advance from a Sprite bottle onto Zhou Yan at her home and set her on fire, causing burns to multiple areas including her face and neck.
On the morning of September 18, 2011, the relatives of the victim reported the incident to the Yaohai Public Security Bureau. Tao Rukun was criminally detained that night. On September 22, based on the victim's injury photos and medical records provided by the investigating unit, the Criminal Science and Technology Institute of the Hefei Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a Preliminary Review Opinion on the Degree of Human Body Damage. On September 26, Tao Rukun was arrested and has been detained in the detention center ever since.
The notification stated that the victim's injury appraisal is crucial evidence in this case and also an important basis for determining the criminal's guilt, sentencing, and civil compensation. On the afternoon of February 24 this year, under the accompaniment of family members and investigating officers, Zhou Yan went to the forensic medicine outpatient clinic where the police forensic doctor conducted a detailed inspection and photographed her injured parts. According to her treatment records at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, her neck injuries might require a second surgery. Based on forensic practice, the injury appraisal can only be conducted after the treatment is completed (involving functional disorders requiring three to six months of rehabilitation). Therefore, it is not appropriate to conduct an appraisal on the degree of the victim's neck injuries at this time. Next, the public security organ will strictly adhere to relevant regulations and make a comprehensive injury appraisal as soon as possible based on the treatment and recovery status of the victim Zhou Yan. If her post-surgery recovery progresses quickly and meets the requirements for a forensic injury appraisal within the detention period of the public security organ, a comprehensive appraisal conclusion will be made; if a second surgery is required and the post-surgery recovery does not meet the forensic appraisal requirements, an appraisal will be made on the damaged parts that currently meet the appraisal conditions, and Tao Rukun will be transferred to the Procuratorate for review and prosecution accordingly. For the damages that do not yet meet the appraisal conditions, supplementary appraisals will be conducted during the case litigation phase.
Expert opinion: Plastic surgery requires 400,000 yuan and ten surgeries.
From the current disclosed photos of Zhou Yan's condition, the extent of her disfigurement is very severe. Zhou Yan's mother, Li Cong, previously said that consulting in Shanghai estimated the treatment cost would be four million yuan. Yesterday, Early Morning Post interviewed Huang Jinlong, director of the Department of Plastic Surgery and Medical Aesthetics at Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He said that based on the previous reports describing "burn area exceeding 30%, burn depth reaching second-degree and third-degree, completely disfigured," the subsequent plastic surgery costs for Zhou Yan would be at least 300,000-400,000 yuan.
"Firstly, we need to restore her basic functions, then consider her appearance. Currently, each facial plastic surgery costs approximately 20,000-30,000 yuan, and Zhou Yan's situation would require about ten repairs." Huang Jinlong told the Early Morning Post.
Yesterday, there were messages on Weibo stating that a Beijing plastic surgery institution offered unconditional free assistance to the victim Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan's lawyer, Li Zhiyan, stated that currently, the key is to perform functional treatment, which will take over a year, and they will consider whether to accept the assistance at that time.
Moreover, Lawyer Li Zhiyan said that Zhou Yan's injuries were very serious, and she only escaped life-threatening danger and moved to a regular ward two months after being injured. Previously, the police sent a forensic doctor to examine Zhou Yan, who believed that Zhou Yan needed skin grafting surgery on her neck before the injury appraisal could be conducted. The lawyer stated that the victim side has been urging for a quick injury appraisal because without it, the case remains in the investigation stage and cannot enter the litigation stage. Currently, the perpetrator Tao Rukun has been detained for five months. According to current laws, suspects can only be detained for seven months. If the case still cannot enter the litigation stage, the public security organ must change the compulsory measures, and Tao Rukun may be released on bail.
Zhou Yan's mother:
No romantic relationship between the parties.
Yesterday, Early Morning Post called Tao Rukun's father, Tao Wen. The voice on the other end sounded slightly exhausted. Tao Wen said that as long as Zhou Yan's family signs the agreement, they will continue to cooperate with the treatment. "We will follow the court's judgment and not shirk any responsibility."
At 12:17 yesterday, Li Cong's Weibo "@Anhui Li Cong" updated its content again, not responding to Tao Rukun's father's previous online claims that the Zhou family demanded tens of millions in compensation and that Zhou and Tao had an early romance. However, the Early Morning Post learned from the "Hefei Forum" that Zhou's mother was extremely angry about the "early romance" claim. She said that Zhou Yan and Tao Rukun were junior high school alumni and met when they were studying at Shouchun Middle School. Zhou Yan once told her that her science scores, especially her chemistry scores, were very poor, while Tao's science scores were good. Due to their study relationship, they became closer. But Zhou Yan did not like Tao, who kept纠缠her. Zhou Yan's aunt Ms. Li said, "To avoid Tao Rukun's harassment of Zhou Yan, my sister (Zhou Yan's mother) even called Tao Rukun's mother, asking her to manage her son. The other party said she couldn't manage him, 'If you want to report it, go ahead.'"
"Dabao (Zhou Yan's nickname) was very sad when she saw herself in the mirror after being discharged. She tried to bite her tongue to commit suicide several times. Dabao said, 'Mom, I'm finished. I have no future.' Crying, I told her that if she couldn't bear it and committed suicide, I wouldn't live either and would immediately jump off the building," Zhou Yan's mother Li Cong cried and said that since Zhou Yan attempted suicide, she didn't dare to leave her side for a moment, fearing that her child would lose hope and commit suicide again.