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Net rehab center owner detained for teen abuse

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-19 22:46

CHENGDU: A man who allegedly ran an illegal Internet rehab center and beat up teenagers has been detained in southwest China's Sichuan Province, officials said Wednesday. The center has been shut down.

Tang Jingcheng, 27, a school teacher in Qinghe Township, Zhongjiang County, was detained on charges of intentional injury, said a spokesman for the county's Communist Party committee.

A teenager's mother went to police on August 10, saying her son Xiang Pan was beaten and injured by other children abetted by Tang at the rehab center of the Chinese Anti-tradition All-round Training Institute.

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The center has been closed. Police are investigating the institute, an education consulting company registered in the provincial capital Chengdu.

Xiang, 14, a first grade student at Chengdu No. 9 Middle School, was sent to the center by his mother to cure Internet addiction. His mother paid 1,500 yuan (US$220) a month for the so-called "training."

The boy tried to run away after just three days of "unbearable" trainings, but was caught by Tang, who then told several other trainees to "punish" him.

Police found that another 14-year-old boy, Pu Liang, was also beaten up and seriously injured when investigating the center.

Pu Liang was suffering from kidney failure stemming from repeated beatings at the camp.

He lay on bed in hospital, staring at the ceiling, and was reluctant to talk to Xinhua reporters Wednesday.

His doctor said when Pu arrived at the hospital he was found to be suffering from multiple soft tissue injuries, fractures and a serious kidney failure. But, luckily, after a week's treatment, Pu's condition had stabilized.

Police have escorted home eight other students in the camp, including one slightly injured student.

The torture of teenagers in the Sichuan camp happened just days after a boy was beaten to death in a similar Internet rehab center in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Deng Senshan, the 15-year-old boy, was found dead on August 2 ten hours after he entered the Nanning-based Qihang Salvation Training Camp. He was sent to the camp to get rid of his Internet addiction.

Police have detained 13 people who were suspected of inflicting intentional injuries and of illegally operating the camp.

The unlicensed camp was closed. A total of 122 trainees inside, all under 18, had been taken home by their parents.

The death triggered outrage on the Internet in China and drew worldwide attention. Chinese medical experts also called for specific laws and regulations on the diagnosis and treatment of Internet addiction.

The number of Internet addiction treatment institutions and rehab camps has soared in the past few years in big cities where many parents are worried about their kids' surfing on the Internet all day long.

China has 338 million Internet users, the largest number in the world,  and an estimated 10 percent of young Internet users are addicts.