A Chinese teenager sent to an internet addiction1 rehabilitation2 camp has allegedly been beaten to death by its counsellors, according to reports.
报道称,一名中国青少年被送往网瘾戒除夏令营,结果却被辅导员打死。
A number of employees of the Qihang Salvation4 Training Camp in Nanning have been arrested over the death, his father Deng Fei told the Global Times.
The camp had promised to put Deng Senshan, 15, under 24-hour supervision5.
China is increasingly taking action against what it sees as a pandemic of web addiction.
Some estimates suggest up to 10% of the country's 100 million teenage web users could be addicted6, and a growing number of rehabilitation(复原) services exist.
However, there is little consensus7(一致,合意) on how to treat the addiction. In July, China's Ministry8 of Health formally banned the use of electroshock therapy as a treatment option.
According to the China Daily newspaper, an agreement the teenagers' parents signed with the camp said: "The centre can take necessary approaches including punishment to educate the teenager, as long as the approaches will not abuse the child or impair9(损害) his health."
Camp staff are alleged3 to have put the teenager in solitary10 confinement11(单独监禁) on Saturday and then beaten him that evening.