Zhao Zuohai's recent statement to the media confirms our worst suspicions that torture did have a role to play in his confession, albeit for a murder that never took place.

We cannot be certain yet whether Zhao is guilty of exaggeration or not, but his story is chilling.

For weeks before he was formally sentenced, Zhao says he was repeatedly tortured to extract a confession - that he had killed a fellow villager, who subsequently fled fearing Zhao would die of injuries he had caused during an altercation.

Zhao says his "confession" was as "instructed" by the police, and that he could experience a sense of security only in the prison ward.

Sleep deprivation, repeated beatings, and death threats must have made Zhao think this was hell on earth. Few could have chosen a different path in such a situation.

Zhao's "confession" took place in police custody. His tragedy, likely to be forgotten as yet another 'isolated case,' is a stark reminder of the existence of such venues of brutal torture which, sadly, continue to be used even today.

Alarming cases of unexplained deaths continue to occur in such detention centers. They are a grim pointer to the police's alleged inhuman behavior against criminal suspects.

The Ministry of Public Security has decided to open up detention facilities marked grade-three and above beginning July 1.

The idea is to facilitate public oversight over such facilities across the country, according to a statement on its website.

This promised oversight is no panacea for cases such as Zhao's, since our public institutions' approach sometimes does not work. The police ought to police themselves to rid its reputation of such taints.