Kin Paid After iPhone Drama Spurs Suicide

The Taiwanese employer of a young Chinese man who killed himself after being interrogated over a missing iPhone prototype has agreed to pay compensation to his family, a company official said Tuesday.

Sun Danyong, 25, jumped from his high-rise apartment in southern China last week after officials of Foxconn Technology Group questioned him about the whereabouts of the iPhone model that was in his possession.

Sun was responsible for sending the device to U.S.-based Apple Inc., which contracts with Foxconn, the world's biggest contract manufacturer of electronics.

Sun alleged he was beaten and abused by Foxconn security personnel, who denied it.

Sun's suicide cast unwelcome attention on Apple's notorious culture of secrecy, which tries to create a big pre-launch buzz about the company's products and upgrades. Apple is also a constant target of prying journalists, rabidly faithful customers and competitors who want an early peek at its latest gadgets.

A Foxconn official in Taipei said Tuesday the company would pay Sun's parents a lump sum of 360,000 yuan ($52,600), plus 30,000 yuan ($4,385) every year as long as either of them remains alive.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to deal with the press.

Earlier, Foxconn apologized for the incident and suspended the local security chief who headed up the Sun investigation.

Gu Qinming, the suspended security chief, admitted he grabbed Sun once by the shoulder but denied beating him.