The local government in Yongcheng, Central China's Henan Province, confirmed with the Global Times on Sunday that an investigation team is looking into a case where a woman attempted suicide after organized extortion by road administration officials.

According to a Saturday report on China Central Television (CCTV), female truck owner Wen Li and her truck driver Guo Wanli were intercepted by road management officers who demanded a penalty for "exceeding the truck's axle loading limit" on November 14.

"They told us if we didn't have the 'tickets' we would be fined," Guo was quoted as saying by CCTV, referring to the "exemption tickets" sold by the local road management and transportation authorities. Drivers need both "tickets" to be safe from extortion by law enforcement officials, and must pay 3,000 yuan ($492.3) per year to the road management authorities and 3,000 yuan per month to the transportation authority, or else face random and arbitrary "penalties."

Wen drank pesticide after road and transportation authorities insisted on fining her although she had already paid the annual and monthly "fees."

Her hands and legs were shaking after she drank the pesticide, but road law enforcement officials refused to send her to hospital. She was taken to hospital by an ambulance instead, said Liu Huaizhou, a relative of Wen,  the Xinhua News  Agency reported.

Wen has been discharged from hospital after medical treatment for about two weeks, but she still needs to go to hospital every day for further treatment, according to Liu.

Gao Yongfu, a team head of the road administration bureau, denied the "exemption tickets" in an interview with CCTV. He also added that officers at the scene pulled away Wen when she was drinking something, and they did not know she drank pesticide.

Wen's family has been fined some 200,000 yuan since April. "My sister only had about 300 yuan with her on that day. Scared by those penalties, she chose not to pay the money but commit suicide," said Liu Huaizhou, a brother of Wen.

Zhang Zhuting, a law professor at the Transport Management Institute under the Ministry of Transport, told the Global Times that overloaded trucks should be punished by traffic police, and Wen's truck should have faced a standard fine imposed by the roadway administration bureau.

"Drivers should understand the system first. However, there might be some executive deviations. For example, the alleged 'exemption ticket' is definitely inappropriate. But in case of any conflict, no violent reaction should be taken," Zhang said.