A man in northern China was beaten to death and another seriously injured by attackers who then demolished their homes, state media reported Monday, in the nation's latest case of violent land seizures. The assailants burst into a house in Shanxi province's Guzhai village where Meng Fugui and Wu Wenyuan were both sleeping and beat them up, before demolishing their homes, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Meng died in the attack, which took place in the early hours of Saturday, and Wu was taken to hospital with serious injuries, the report said.
The two men's homes were in a district earmarked for destruction, but issues such as compensation had stopped the planned demolition from going ahead, it added.
Authorities have detained six suspects in connection with the attack.
Police in Taiyuan city, where the village is located, refused to comment when contacted by AFP. Calls to local government officials went unanswered.
Land seizures are frequently reported in China as officials and businesses seek to cash in on a property boom and forcibly remove residents to make way for new buildings or infrastructure projects.
Some people have been known to set themselves on fire in protest at being forcibly evicted from their homes while others have been beaten up by thugs allegedly hired by demolition firms.
In the southwestern province of Yunnan, one family has been resisting attempts to kick them out of their home, which have included smearing excrement on their house and cutting off their electricity and water supplies.
According to the official China Daily newspaper, Zhao Xing and his family refuse to leave their building, which stands alone in the provincial capital Kunming in a desolate wasteland where all other houses have been knocked down.
A redevelopment project is planned for the area, but the 53-year-old and demolition authorities have as yet failed to reach a compensation agreement, the report said.
The family started being seriously harassed on October 14 when they woke up to the sounds of windows being smashed. When Zhao got up, he discovered someone had smeared excrement over his house.
Unidentified men wearing camouflage clothing have since dug a trench around the house, which fills up with water up to two metres (6.5 feet) deep when it rains, making it hard to come in and out, the report said.
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