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Two police officers are standing trial for the "hide and seek" death that put China's detention system under the spotlight.

Former second-class police supervisor Li Dongming, 48, faces a charge of dereliction of duty and former first-class police superintendent Su Shaolu, 36, is being prosecuted for bullying inmates.

Both appeared at a court in Songming county of Yunnan province yesterday.

Prosecutors alleged the officers' lax management of the prison cells led to violent inmates beating another prisoner to death during a game of "hide and seek" in a detention house of Jinning county, Yunnan province in February.

Li, dressed in a plain suit, was accused by the prosecutor of "neither exercising policing regulations and management responsibilities, nor curbing the growth of violent inmates' clout in cell number 9," which was under his supervision and where the crime happened.

Su, wearing a detention house uniform of a yellow vest and handcuffs, was also accused of violating supervision regulations and abusing scores of rule-breaking inmates by protracted kneeling, verbal insults and corporal punishments from 2008 to early 2009.

Li De, father of dead inmate Li Qiaoming, told the New Life Post: "All I want is justice, and I hope the murderers and police officers whose negligence led to my son's death receive their due legal punishments."

Cellmates Zhang Houhua, Zhang Tao and others bullied and beat 24-year-old Li from Yuxi several times when he was detained from Jan 29 to Feb 8 in the cell, according to reports.

It's alleged they blinded-folded Li to "play hide-and-seek" on Feb 8 and then began beating him. Li bumped his head into a wall after a heavy punch and fell unconscious. He died in hospital on Feb 12.

At least 15 "unnatural" deaths have been reported so far this year in the nation’s detention centers.

Questions:

1. How old was the inmate who was beaten to death?

2. In which Chinese province did the tragedy take place?

3. What did the two policemen do to the inmate that led to his death?

Answers:

1. 24.

2. Yunnan.

3. They allowed other prisoners to blindfold him and beat him.

（英語點津Helen 編輯）

Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op??Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily??s Website opinion section.

He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.