Rape victim's mother brings labor camp to court

The mother of a young rape victim in central China's Hunan Province on Tuesday brought the local re-education through labor center to court, seeking both compensation and an apology for her detention.

Tang Hui, the mother petitioning for harsher punishments for those involved in the rape and forced prostitution of her daughter, demanded 1,463.85 yuan (235 U.S. dollars) in compensation from the center for infringing upon her personal freedom, another 1,000 yuan for psychological damage and a written apology in her indictment filed to the Intermediate People's Court in Yongzhou.

Last year, Tang campaigned in front of government buildings for harsher punishments for those found guilty of raping her then 11-year-old daughter in 2006 and forcing the girl into prostitution.

Tang also demanded that "two local police officers in Yongzhou be punished by law for raping her daughter."

However, police took Tang to the labor camp on Aug. 2, 2012 to serve an 18-month term for "seriously disturbing social order and exerting a negative impact on society" through her campaigning.

Her detention quickly set off a firestorm of public criticism. Under public pressure, Tang was released eight days later, as the center said her daughter, who turned 17 last year, was still a minor in need of her mother's care.

Tang's story has sparked a new wave of public outcry for the reform of the re-education through labor system, which allows police to detain people for up to four years without an open trial.

Early this month, authorities in Yongzhou rejected Tang's demand for state compensation for the time she spent in the labor camp.

Tang, in her indictment, appealed for the court to report her case to the Higher People's Court in Hunan Province, which can designate another intermediate people's court to try the case, so as to rule out the possibility of "interference by power" from Yongzhou authorities.