The government in Linwu, Hunan province, should not waste time disclosing the investigation results that will reveal the cause of a person's death, said an article in the Southern Metropolis Daily (excerpts below).

A watermelon vendor died of during a fight with urban management officers, or chengguan, in Linwu on July 17. Police wounded many when they tried to "rob" the corpse for an autopsy.

What makes the incident more repugnant to the people is the local government said at a news conference that the police were helping the family members of the dead vendor transfer the body and some people, who obstructed the police's actions, got injured in the physical contacts.

On the other side of the coin, onlookers said chengguan officers beat the vendor to death, and the police beat villagers while bringing the body home. Dozens of people were beaten on the morning of July 18 while protecting the corpse.

The people's attempts to protect the corpse demonstrates their ingrained distrust of the authority.

They suspected the authority would shirk responsibility for the beating of the vendor by fabricating excuses.

If the vendor is found to have died of his own disease, the main responsibility for his death will belong to the vendor himself.