The Panlong District's People's Procuratorate in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, announced on Wednesday that they have begun prosecuting Luo Bingqian, a man accused of negligently causing the death of an 18-year-old female student in September.
Li Xincao, the victim, was a sophomore at Kunming University of Science and Technology. On Sept 8, she went out with her roommate, surnamed Ren, and two of Ren's male friends－Luo, the 22-year-old defendant, and another surnamed Li.
Luo Bingqian is accused of negligently causing the death of 18-year-old Li Xincao, a sophomore at Kunming University of Science and Technology
According to a statement released by the Kunming public security bureau on Oct 14, police received a phone call at 2:04 am on Sept 9 that someone had fallen into a river. Police arrived at the scene in about four minutes, and brought Ren and her friends back to the Gulou police station in Panlong district for further questioning.
One of Li Xincao's relatives received a phone call from the police after about 50 minutes, saying that Li agreed to jump into the river with others after they had all finished drinking, but only she jumped in and later drowned.
ALSO READ: Hacker jailed in fraud case that led to student's death
A cousin of Li's arrived at the police station and met the three. Luo swore to her that they didn't quarrel with Li or force her to drink wine. A police officer on duty that day said Li had committed suicide after being drunk.
Li's body was found on the dock of a nearby lake on Sept 11.
However, her mother refused to believe that she could have committed suicide because she was optimistic and cheerful. Her mother recalled that on Sept 8, Li had talked to her over the phone about buying tickets for the upcoming National Day Holiday on Oct 1, according to a report by China Central Television.
On Sept 15, Li's family watched a three-hour surveillance recording from the bar depicting everything that had happened during the quartet's visit on the 8th. According to a three-minute clip that was released, Luo threw his body on top of Li's while she was lying on a chair. He also slapped Li's face twice while she was sitting on the chair and being subdued by the other two.
Li's cousin reported to Gulou public security station on Sept 16 that Li had been molested by the men before she jumped into the river.
READ MORE: SPP: It's sex abuse even with no touch
On Oct 12, an internet user claiming to be Li's mother posted a message on Sina Weibo and shared her queries about the case, drawing wide public attention.
On Oct 10, Li's mother had asked the police to perform an autopsy to determine the cause of her death. That autopsy was completed on Oct 13 and showed that the cause of death was drowning, according to the CCTV report.
The next day, the Kunming public security bureau organized a special task force to investigate the case, with the municipal procuratorate supervising, according to the statement.
As part of that investigation, Kunming police filed a case against Luo on Oct 14 on suspicion of negligently causing Li's death. He was also put under investigation eight days later for his involvement in the molestation and harassment of Li.
