As a 17-year-old trainee, Liu Shulan was bitten to death by a hippo at the Beijing Zoo.

That was in 1973.

Thirty-one years later, Liu's mother Zhang Yuzhen, 86, is suing the zoo for 440,000 yuan (US$53,000).

"I was paid 700 yuan (US$85) in total in 1973 by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Parks," Zhang said in her indictment at the Beijing Xicheng District People's Court yesterday.

She said bureau officials vowed that the victim's family will be paid compensation in the future when there is a state policy or law specifying compensation for students killed by industrial injuries.

Zhang was paid 6,800 yuan (US$820) in three batches between 1998 and 2003, she said.

Her latest lawsuit is based on the General Principles of the Civil Law, which went into effect in 1987, and a 2003 judicial interpretation by the Supreme People's Court. The interpretation covers compensation lawsuits for personal injuries in 2003.

Despite testimony from Tian Qingzhu, a former official with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Parks, that dealt with the accident 31 years ago, bureau officials disagreed.

"Zoo staff never promised to offer more compensation in the future to Liu's family," Xiao Shaoxiang, vice-manager of the zoo, said yesterday during the first court hearing on the case.

He said the compensation of 700 yuan (US$85) in 1973 was final.

"Although the amount seems small now, salaries and prices at that time were also much lower," Xiao said.

The zoo also helped the victim's family get a new house and arranged a job for Liu's elder sister in Beijing.

The zoo's consultant Wang Houyan said Liu's accident was caused by her disobeying management rules.

Wang also doubted whether a 31-year-old accident could be the subject of litigation.

"Even if limitation began in 1987 when the General Principles of the Civil Law went into effect, it would end by 1988," he said.

Wang cited the 2002 Ministry of Education legislation which says student injuries already settled cannot be retried.

(China Daily June 17, 2004)