The case of a pedicurist and lecherous official has galvanised public opinion in China.

Women’s groups, and even the conservative state All-China Women’s Federation, have demanded fair treatment for Deng Yujiao, 21, who stabbed a government official to death in the hotel where she worked when he demanded that she provide him with “special services”.

Civil rights organisations and many ordinary Chinese want an explanation for the arrest of a young woman who said that she was defending herself against the unwanted advances of the director of the local business promotion office.

They want to know why a Communist Party official was frequenting a hotel that offered massages with “special services” — a euphemism for sex.

Such is public indignation over Ms Deng’s fate that usually docile newspapers and websites have largely ignored a government directive ordering all reports to toe the official line.

The case is particularly emotive since it cuts to the heart of many of the most sensitive issues troubling Chinese society.

These include abuse of the law in favour of vested interests at the expense of the weak, and the rapid spread of the sex trade in a country whose Communist leadership prides itself on puritan values.

It pits the vulnerable, particularly women struggling to make a living, against the might of the state and the abuse of power. The most detailed account is in the Southern Metropolis Weekly and is based on Ms Deng’s conversations with her lawyer.

She says that on May 10, Deng Guida and another local official found her washing her clothes in the Xiongfeng Hotel. When she declined their advances, they tried to force her and slapped her over the head with wads of cash.

She said Deng Guida shouted: “Don’t you want money? You have never seen any money! How much money do you want? Would you believe if it if I beat you to death with money. I’m going to get a truckload of money and squash you to death.”

The two men ignored a hotel official who tried to intervene and pushed the girl back on a sofa. She drew a fruit knife out of her bag and lashed out. Deng Guida, 44, was killed and his colleague, also 44, was wounded.

The young woman called the police to the dying man and then waited. She was arrested for deliberate homicide. The charge triggered a public outcry.

Debate is raging as to whether she was acting in self-defence and whether that plea will be of any avail in court. Some have asked whether Mr Deng was using his own money or public funds to visit the hotel. The hotel says that its business has collapsed since civil servants have stopped visiting.

One internet commentator said: “Why do so many government officials like to make fun of the public? Don’t you know that with each time public trust in you is falling?”

Another wrote: “This case is not just about Deng Yujiao. It’s about the issue of trust in the Government, about the issue of public confidence.”

As the incident has dominated national debate for days, police have apparently put pressure on her mother to fire her two lawyers. The pair voiced their shock, saying: “We wish to express our strong indignation at the improper actions of the Government.”

Ms Deng has been released on bail.

Internet pressure

— Zhou Jiugeng, a government property official in central Nanjing, was fired after photos appeared on the internet showing him at a meeting smoking cigarettes costing 1,500 yuan (£150) a carton. He was tracked down by online vigilantes and sacked last December

— Internet outrage last November forced the dismissal of a senior Communist Party official after video footage from a restaurant security camera showed him shoving the father of an 11-year-old girl whom he had allegedly assaulted

— Online opinion swung behind Yang Jia, 28, a Beijing man who stabbed to death six police in Shanghai. Many felt that he had been unfairly treated and, since his execution in November, his grave has been kept under police surveillance in case supporters visit

— Internet users took part last February in an unprecedented inquiry after an online furore when a man died in police custory and the official report blamed his death on a violent game of “hide and seek”

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