'Murdered' Chinese man alive and well

A Chinese man who was supposedly hacked to death in a fight has reappeared in his hometown after 10 years, according to state media.

Supposed killer Zhao Zhensheng has served 10 years of a 29-year sentence after he confessed to killing Zhao Zuohui in a fight in central China's Henan province, the China Daily reported this weekend.

A body was found in a village well about a year after the fight, and Zhao was arrested.

The victim, Zhao Zuohui, reappeared in the village on May 2 to seek welfare support. He had fled after the fight because he feared he had killed Zhao Zhensheng.

The incident has raised questions about whether police tortured him in order to elicit a confession.

Convictions in the Chinese court system are strongly dependent on confessions.

Zhao Zhensheng's brother told the local Dahe newspaper police had forced him to drink chili water and set off fireworks over his head to force him to confess.

He narrowly escaped being executed for the crime, Reuters reported.

While in prison, his wife left him for another man and three of his four children were given away for adoption, the China Daily said.

- NZHERALD STAFF