Police officer arrested for allegedly beating migrant worker to death

A police officer from North China's Shanxi Province was arrested for allegedly beating and killing a female migrant worker, local authorities said Tuesday.

The police officer, surnamed Wang, is suspected of abusing his power when handling a case. The arrest was approved by Taiyuan City Procuratorate.

According to a previous investigation by local police, on December 13, more than ten migrant workers who were trying to enter a construction site argued with guards, who stopped them for not wearing safety helmets.

When the police arrived at the site, there was a brawl between Wang and Zhou Xiuyun, a 47-year-old female migrant worker, which led to Zhou's "unnatural death," according to the investigation report.

A picture supposedly showing Wang beating Zhou in front of a construction site has circulated widely on China's Sina Weibo microblog.

Zhou's son told Xinhua that 13 people from his hometown have worked at a construction site in Taiyuan since mid-October. But the boss delayed payment of their 29,000 yuan (about $4,700) salary.

They planned to ask for their money and return home to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, he said.

During the brawl, his father's ribs were broken by police.

"A police officer pulled my mom's hair and twisted her neck. She was lying on the ground for nearly an hour, and the policeman stepped on her hair and accused her of playing dead," he said.

The son said he was not sure whether his mother was beaten to death at the site or later at the police station.

The local procuratorate has set up a special team to investigate the case. They are negotiating with Zhou's family to perform an autopsy to determine the exact cause of her death.

Further investigation is under way.

In October 2013, a policeman from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region shot a pregnant woman dead in a rice noodle restaurant,igniting anger across the country. The police officer was executed in July.