Mother in plea over daughter's death

A couple in Dongcheng district who does not believe their 12-year-old daughter committed suicide has appealed for witnesses on Sina Weibo's microblogging service to discover the truth behind the death.

Zhou Meilan, whose daughter Fumei Sijin fell off their residential building at about 4:30 pm on Saturday, said via microblog Sunday that she does not know how her daughter could have fallen from the building.

A preliminary investigation by local police stated that she may have committed suicide, the Beijing Youth Daily reported Monday.

According to the microblog post, which had been forwarded more than 66,000 times by Monday night, Fumei volunteered to buy vegetables at around 4:10 pm on Saturday. Zhou then gave her a shopping bag and a shopping card.

The girl's father, surnamed Fu, told the Global Times Monday that Fumei fell from Building No.2 of Jiaodaokou Dongdajie, Dongcheng district. She fell into the office area of the Shou Qi Group behind the building and was found by a security guard, who called police. It is not known what floor she jumped or fell from.

"As she didn't return after more than an hour, I went to the market but didn't find her. On my way home, my wife called, saying she saw our daughter's money and shopping card was on the shoe cabinet outside our house gate," he said.

"Then I remembered I saw the shopping bag on the ground near the window of the corridor on the 10th floor that we live on," said Fu.

A police officer in the compound, who heard that he was looking for a missing girl, took him to Tongren Hospital in Dongcheng, said Fu.

"She was an extroverted girl. I will never believe she would commit suicide," he said.

A man surnamed Li, a neighbor of Fumei's family, told the Beijing Youth Daily that he saw her waiting for the elevator as he was stepping out.

"She greeted me happily. I then went into my house, but I didn't see if she entered the elevator or not," he said.

A police official, surnamed Liu, from Jiaodaokou police station, confirmed that an autopsy to discover the cause of Fumei's death was underway, but there were no results as of Monday.

"The police said there is a high possibility that she committed suicide. But we don't believe it," Zhou said in the microblog post.

"I'd discussed online reports about some college students committing suicide with my daughter. She said: 'Don't worry, mom. Even if I was desperate I'd never do that.'"

So far, the microblog appeal has yet to turn up any concrete leads, said Fu.