China has punished six local officials for failing to take care of a family whose grisly murder-suicide case prompted heated national discussion about the plight of the poor. No criminal proceedings will be filed against the punished officials, according to the Gansu government statement. Local government had pledged to severely punish officials if an investigation into the case uncovered any wrongdoing. State media outlets, including the Communist Party flagship newspaper People's Daily, have also covered Yang's case closely. In a column on the web portal Sina.com, writer Jun Hongqiao questioned whether local county officials had been carrying out poverty relief measures evenly and appropriately or simply hyping their progress in the media.

Source: ABC News September 17, 2016 09:27 UTC