A dismissed medical college student won a discrimination case against her school for expelling her because she gave birth while still taking courses, reported the China Central Television yesterday.

Students were forbidden to marry until the law was changed last September.

The decision said only that the school was in the wrong.

It was not clear whether Wang would be readmitted or receive any compensation. The school has said it would reconsider its decision if it lost the case, according to CCTV.

Wang Hongjie enrolled in the Mudanjiang Medical College in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province in 2000. She became romantically involved with Lin Xiaogong in 2003. Lin, 37, was divorced and had a son.

Wang became pregnant in 2004. She obtained a false identification document for marriage registration.

She and Lin married in 2004; she was of legal age, 20. She gave birth to a boy baby before the 2005 Spring Festival.

The college learned of her marriage and the birth in March 2005, according to Wang Guojun, a college official. The school investigated, met with Wang, and informed her parents.

Wang never said she had a baby, fearing she would be dismissed if she told the truth.

The college official told CCTV that the punishment could have been lighter if Wang Hongjie's attitude hadn't been so rigid.

Wang was dismissed, under school regulations, in March 2005.

Wang would have been luckier if she had given birth six months later.

The Ministry of Education changed its long-standing regulation - a ban on marriage by college students - last September, allowing university students to get married.

Wang filed suit against her school, claiming the law was on her side.

The court ruled last December that the medical college withdraw its punishment - expulsion.

Wang had passed all required examinations.

She may be able to get her degree.

(Shanghai Daily February 10, 2006)