Who was Zhu Ling, the woman whose mysterious thallium poisoning kept China in suspense for almost 30 years

In 1994 Zhu Ling was a student at Tsinghua University. That same year she was poisoned with thallium, which left her incapacitated for decades. Last Friday her death was confirmed in Beijing at the age of 50. This is the story of a crime that the authorities of China they have not been able to resolve.

“Zhu Ling has fought tenaciously against pain for many years. Throughout the life of Zhu Linghas always had the care, support and encouragement of many alumni, from all walks of life and school,” wrote the prestigious Tsinghua University in a message on the social network Weibo.

LOOK: Yahya Sinwar, Israel’s most wanted man, speaks for the first time since the start of the war

Zhu’s father, Wu Chengzhiconfirmed the news to Southern Metropolis Daily. His funeral was held on Sunday.

According to the EFE agency, on November 18 Zhu suffered an attack caused by a brain tumor with severe symptoms, including high intracranial pressure, dilated pupils and high fever, which caused him to enter a severe coma.

Paralyzed, almost blind and with brain damage

Zhu ling I was a second year chemistry student at Tsinghua University. He also played the piano and guqina string instrument, and was a member of the swim team.

At the end of 1994, when he was 21 years old, he began to experience stomach pain, hair loss and other symptoms.

“His back started to hurt, then his legs and stomach; later her whole body. In a couple of days she lost all her hair,” her mother said in a documentary produced a few years ago by Chinese television.

A few weeks later she recovered and in early 1995 she was discharged and returned home, the Spanish newspaper reported. The country.

The young woman resumed her studies in February 1995. But eight days later, the symptoms returned, but this time the pain was greater. “She clung to the headboard of the bed, crying, until she fainted,” her mother said in the documentary.

She was admitted to the Peking Union Medical College Hospital; However, doctors could not find the diagnosis. After his health worsened, Zhu Ling fell into a coma.

The case and the young woman’s medical history were then disclosed on the Internet to search for clues about what was happening to her. The responses, most written by doctors from around the world, mentioned the thallium as the possible cause of the condition Zhu lingindicated El País.

Finally, the doctor Chen Zhenyangtoxicologist specialized in thalliumdetermined that “the concentration of thallium in his body it was 10,000 times higher than normal.” “I have never seen anything like it,” the doctor said in an interview.

Zhu Ling She underwent treatment that saved her life, but the damage she suffered was irreversible.

As a result of the poisoning, Zhu ling She was left paralyzed, almost blind and with brain damage. He needed care 24 hours a day during the almost 30 years that he survived, since his mental capacity was that of a six-year-old child.

“His memory stops before the accident, he doesn’t remember anything that happened,” said his mother.

He thallium It is a highly toxic metal that dissolves in water, has no smell or taste. It is used in poisons for rodents and insects, detailed a report from cnn.

A suspect related to the political elite

No one has been charged for the crime. Her classmate and roommate, Sun Weiwho was the main suspect, was investigated by the police in 1997, but was not charged due to lack of evidence, according to the British network. BBC.

Sun He appeared several times on social media declaring he was innocent, and also changed his name, the BBC added.

The case, EFE indicated, has become a symbol of the impunity of the elites in ChinaWell, the family of Sun Wei He was part of the communist regime and according to those who follow the case he was friends with the then president of the country, Jiang Zemin.

Furthermore, as CNN maintains, Sun’s grandfather was a high-ranking official in the Nationalist government before the communist takeover of China in 1949. He subsequently held senior, although largely symbolic, positions in the People’s Republic until his death in 1995.

One of Sun’s father’s cousins ​​was considered a national leader from 1993 to 2003, when he was vice president of China’s highest political advisory body, CNN reports.

Apparently, Sun envied Zhu for his good academic resume and for his “arrogance,” according to the researchers.

Chinese state media reported that Sun had access to thallium in the university laboratory. But she has said that she was not the only student with access to the toxic substance and she denied having any personal problem with Zhu.

On Saturday, the death of Zhu was the most important search element in Weibo, with more than 400 million views, CNN reported. Many users talked about injustice and how untouchable those who have relationships with political elites are.

“The main reason why the case of Zhu evokes so much public anger and sympathy is because many people in China “They see a part of themselves in Zhu: they have suffered some kind of injustice, but there is never a fair, independent or transparent investigation by the authorities,” Yaqiu Wang, China research director for the non-profit organization, told CNN. profit Freedom House, based in Washington.

“Zhu’s devoted parents, who took great care of her for nearly three decades, also symbolize the family care that people in China knows intimately and can trust, because the system is not something that can be trusted or depended on,” Wang added.

Petition to the White House

CNN recalled that in 2013, when a case of poisoning in a university residence Shanghai Rekindled national interest, social media users launched a petition to the United States government to take action against the former suspect, who they believed resided in that country.

The request addressed to the White House was signed by more than 150,000 people and specifically asked the US government to investigate Sun and expel her.

The petition alleged that Sun’s family had powerful political connections, and noted that the suspect “had the motive and access to the lethal substance,” the BBC reported.

The White House did not comment on the request, but said that Zhu Ling’s poisoning “was a tragedy”. “No young person deserves to suffer like she did, and we can understand the pain of those close to her,” she said in a statement.