A Beijing district court has sentenced two local policemen for dereliction of duty, which led to the death of a homeless woman.

The Tongzhou district court in eastern Beijing has sentenced Tian Xiuchi, political commissar of the Yongledian Town police office, to one year in prison, and Liu Yang, a policeman in the office, to six months in prison. Both were given a one-year reprieve, the Beijing News reported on Monday.

The court heard that on July 4, 2005, Tian and Liu received reports that a middle-aged woman was lying on the street west of the Yongledian town government.

The woman was unconscious and the policemen failed to find any information related to her identity, the court was told.

Tian later ordered Liu and three security guards to put the woman in the trunk of their car and drove her to a wood in neighboring Huoxian Town.

The woman was spotted the next day by local residents. She died of heart failure after being sent to the hospital, the court said.

The court said the policemen failed to carry out their duties to save and help the woman. The dereliction of duty was an important factor leading to the woman's death.

This follows the tragedy of a 27-year-old migrant worker who was beaten to death in a police clinic in 2003.

Sun Zhigang, a migrant worker from Wuhan City of Hubei Province, was found without any ID by the police on March 17, 2003, and detained at the Guangzhou Police Holding Center. On the night of March 18, Sun told the police that he was suffering a heart attack and was sent to the center's clinic.

On the evening of March 19, Sun shouted loudly for help in the clinic, disturbing clinic attendant Qiao Yanqin who organized eight other detainees in the center to beat Sun in turns. Sun was found unconscious and died on the morning of March 20 despite receiving medical treatment.

A total of 23 people from Guangzhou's public security system, health care institute and public affairs system have been punished for errors that contributed to Sun's death, with Qiao sentenced to death for organizing the beating.

Sun had been working for the Daqi Garment Co., Ltd. in Guangzhou and held both residency and identification documents, but he did not have the documents on him when he was arrested.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2007)