File photo of Wu Xinyi, a 19-year-old freshmen girl at Tianjin Normal University. Wu committed suicide after being forced to live alone in a dorm room because she carried the hepatitis B virus. (Photo/Beijing News)
(ECNS) - A 19-year-old freshmen girl at Tianjin Normal University has committed suicide after being forced to live alone in a dorm room because she carried the hepatitis B virus.
Wu Xinyi, a student at the University's School of Elementary Education, tested positive for the virus during a blood donation on Dec. 6 last year.
The virus can only be transmitted by exposure to infectious blood or through sexual contact. Nevertheless, Wu's roommates wouldn't touch her bookshelf and removed their belongings if her cellphone was also on the table, according to Wu's mother.
Ma Qiang, deputy Party chief of the school, said Wu was isolated by her classmates and that she once shouted "my blood is dirty" in the dormitory. She preferred to communicate with her classmates through SMS.
Wu didn't participate in the semester examination late last year and left for home in Fuding, east China's Fujian province, about 1,500 kilometers away from the university.
A school leader had asked Wu to get a certificate stating that an "HBV carrier doesn't affect the school."
Lin Biding, director of the department of infectious diseases at a hospital in Fuding, said the school's requirement was not necessary, as the Ministry of Health laid out clear rules in 2007 and 2010 that no HBV carrier shall be denied work or study.
Ma asked Wu to suspend study for half a year and to enroll again with new recruits. But Wu rejected the offer and moved into a room to live by herself as a compromise.
Wu was also told to write a promise that she would be "solely responsible for the physical and mental results due to her status as a HBV carrier while studying."
In the days before her death, Wu told her mother that she "felt tired." She also urged her mother to be strong and take care of herself during their last phone call on April 10.
The mother has blamed the university for not fulfilling their roles.
Wu chose to end her life by burning charcoal in her room on April 10, 34 days after she moved in. She sealed the door with tape and towels to prevent gas from leaking.
Wu was creative, clever and warmhearted, her mother said.
