A MAN in Jiangsu Province who has been widely believed among the public to have been unjustly treated by a court after he was ordered to pay a woman he claimed to have helped 45,876 yuan (US$7,250) in compensation in 2007 recently admitted that he knocked the woman over before helping her, Chinese-language media reported.

    Peng Yu has reportedly admitted to local police in Nanjing that he knocked over the woman who was trying to board a bus in November 2006. He had denied knocking down the woman, claiming he just tried to help during a trial in Nanjing in 2007. His claims contradicted what he said early in a police station.

    However, the police report went missing during the trial. The court announced a verdict based on a photo of the police report the woman’s son had taken with his mobile phone.

    The verdict was questioned by some media organizations, saying the photo could not be used as proof.

    After the trial, Peng and the woman agreed he would compensate her 10,000 yuan, and both parties agreed not to reveal details to the media. Peng remained silent, refusing all interviews.

    The case triggered widespread discussion of whether Samaritans should aid elderly people. It was also blamed for a later decline in people’s willingness to help others.

    Media reports on the issue were misleading and harmful to social values, said Liu Zhiwei, secretary of the Committee of Political Science and Law under the Communist Party of China’s Nanjing Committee, which oversees local judicial departments.

    Liu’s comments on Peng’s case sparked heated online discussions Monday. Many microbloggers said they felt cheated and did not know what to believe.(SD-Agencies)