Nanjing’s most notorious and grisly murder is back in the headlines, with social media running rife this past day suggesting an arrest in the case that saw a Nanjing University student cut up into thousands of pieces more than 20 years ago.
On 19 January, 1996, Diao Aiqing (刁爱青), a first-year female student in the School of Adult Education at Nanjing University, was brutally murdered. In order to destroy the evidence, the killer cut up her body into over 2,000 pieces. While the murder remains unsolved, the case has become Nanjing’s most talked-about gruesome crime.
In the last 24 hours, however, social media has been ravaged by reports suggesting that a suspect has been detained by local law enforcement, although such cannot be confirmed at this time.
Yesterday, 30 May, the lawyer representing the case, Zhou Zhaocheng, posted on social media that people had, of their own volition, broke the news that someone had been arrested by Nanjing Police in connection to the case.
Zhou said, “If it really is solved, it will be truly gratifying and justice will have prevailed. But if it is a rumour, it is absolutely bottomless. What I can tell you at the moment is that this news has not been officially confirmed”.
As no suspect has been charged, The Nanjinger shall not reveal any further details to the identity of they supposed of committing Nanjing’s most heinous crime, other than that they are said to work in a private clinic in nearby Ma’anshan City of Anhui Province.
As Shanghai-based The Paper has reported on its official WeChat account, a member of staff with the Nanjing Public Security Bureau said that the “Nanjing ‘1.19’ Corpse Mutilation Case” has not been solved.
Analysis
So what are the chances of it being true? One thing is for sure; over the past few years, advances in forensic science have indeed led Nanjing Police to crack several high-profile murders which occurred over the past three decades, such as the rape and murder of Nanjing Medical University student, Lin Mou (林某), on 20 March, 1992.
Nanjing University Sued
Another odd development in the case of Diao came last year, when parents of the victim unsuccessfully sued Nanjing University for enabling the crime. As this publication reported at the time, their grounds were threefold.
On the evening of the murder, Diao’s roommate had made use of electrical appliances against campus regulations. The dormitory manager punished Diao by association. She left the accommodations and was soon dead.
In the second instance, Nanjing University did not inform Diao’s parents of her disappearance until the discovery of body parts, over 1 week later. The university’s failure to fulfil its dormitory management responsibilities denied authorities the best time to investigate the case that had every chance to be solved long before now.
Third, Diao’s body parts were found scattered around the campus of Nanjing University. It cannot be ruled out that the murder took place on campus. Believing there to be hidden dangers in Nanjing University’s management, Diao’s parents took the decision to file the lawsuit.
