Couple in China Harassed After Forced Abortion

Banner calls family 'traitors'; husband in hiding
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 26, 2012 4:40 PM CDT
Couple in China Harassed After Forced Abortion
Feng Jianmei and her husband have been tormented by locals following a forced late-term abortion.   (Shutterstock)

The Chinese couple forced into a late-term abortion that prompted international anger over China's one-child policy have been facing relentless harassment for being "traitors"—abuse that has driven the husband into hiding, a family member tells the BBC. The 23-year-old wife, Feng Jianmei, is still in the hospital, and she tells the New York Times that she is "under a lot of pressure" and that guards won't let her leave.

Recounts the other family member to the BBC: "They hung banners on a bridge and many people came and shouted that we were traitors. Now wherever we go, people follow us." An image shows a local banner reading "beat the traitors, drive them from the town." Local officials apologized over the abortion, but the family fears they are tacitly encouraging the protesters. The husband was reportedly beaten while on his way to see a civil rights lawyer. (More harassment stories.)

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