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Stories of an area official in Jiangxi province detained on suspicion of raping a 12-year-old woman whereas her mother and father had been in quarantine have touched off public anger and a refrain of calls for for higher accountability and transparency in regards to the case. There was little protection of the case by Chinese language media, and the official assertion from police supplied scant particulars, elevating as many questions because it answered.
Earlier this week, quite a few social media posts alleged that the social gathering chief of Tianlu, a small city close to the cities of Guixi and Yingtan in Jiangxi Province, had raped a younger woman whereas her mother and father had been being held in a fangcang, or makeshift quarantine hospital. Moreover, when the mother and father acquired the information about their daughter, they had been reportedly prevented from leaving the power. A public discover from native police later confirmed {that a} 52-year-old man surnamed Liu had been positioned underneath felony detention for the assault, and that an arrest warrant was imminent. The discover additionally said that the mother and father had not been positioned in a fangcang, however it didn’t specify their whereabouts, or the age of the sufferer. Simply days earlier than the rape allegation, the Yingtan Individuals’s Congress printed a publish praising Liu for his skillful dealing with of the pandemic. The publish has since been deleted.
The crime allegedly passed off on Saturday, September 10, the day of the Mid-Autumn pageant historically marked by household gatherings, in keeping with 陆火Media (Weixin ID: LuhuoNews), one of many first blogs to interrupt the story. The now-deleted WeChat publish has been archived by CDT Chinese language. Later reporting by Caixin, one of many few information shops in mainland China to cowl the story, confirmed the date of the crime, the age of the sufferer, and the identification of the accused. Caixin’s Cui Xiankang, Shi Jiaxiang, and Wang Xintong reported on the main points of the case, together with reactions from native authorities and social media customers:
Some offended social media customers blamed the incident on Covid management measures, saying such a tragedy wouldn’t have occurred if the woman’s mother and father had been residence.
Within the Tuesday assertion, Guixi police denied on-line accusations that the rape occurred when the woman’s mother and father had been in a makeshift Covid-19 quarantine facility, after such allegations reignited anger over Covid management measures.
Vowing to strictly punish any violations towards girls and kids, the authorities mentioned the sufferer’s mother and father had by no means been in a Fangcang hospital. They urged residents to not imagine or unfold rumors, or fabricate or disseminate data involving the woman’s privateness, in order to keep away from “secondary hurt to the sufferer,” in keeping with the assertion.
[…] The police assertion didn’t present any additional particulars in regards to the rape, however Caixin has discovered that the suspect’s full identify is Liu Liangzong. He serves as social gathering chief of Liuqiao village and as a consultant of Guixi’s folks’s congress, the town’s prime legislature. [Source]
Many offended netizens blamed the tragedy on draconian COVID-19 measures, and faulted native police for leaving vital questions unanswered. WeChat blogger 桃花潭李白 (ID: IRIS-UKIYOE) identified that the police assertion was quick on info and lengthy on verbal sophistry:
The official assertion issued by the municipal police division refuted rumors with out setting forth the info. It skillfully skirted all the problems that individuals truly care about.
Is the rape sufferer an underaged woman?
Have been her mother and father underneath quarantine on the time of her rape?
By placing a lot emphasis on saying that the mother and father had been by no means in an precise “fangcang,” the assertion is just enjoying phrase video games with us peculiar of us. [Chinese]
Others lamented how widespread censorship has rendered mainland Chinese language information media incapable of holding the authorities accountable. Former journalist Xiang Dongliang mentioned this subject on his WeChat weblog 基本常识 (GetCommonSense):
Have been it not for the fact-checking and outspokenness of bloggers and citizen journalists, this tragedy would doubtless by no means have been made public, nor would the police have issued any statements.
How do I do know? As a result of one of many bloggers (who broke the information) is somebody I do know. He’s a journalist working for a widely known newspaper. Upon listening to in regards to the case, he carried out interviews and confirmed info in keeping with finest journalistic apply, and requested his publication to run the story, solely to be rejected. Having no different selection, he elected to publish his findings on a weblog.
I’m placing this data out solely after validating it with two unbiased sources. [Chinese]
China has seen a collection of high-profile circumstances involving gender-based violence this 12 months. In June, a gaggle of males brutally attacked 4 younger girls in a restaurant in Tangshan, Hebei, after one girl rejected advances by one of many males. 9 suspects had been subsequently arrested and are awaiting trial. In February, a viral video of a lady shackled and chained inside a freezing shed in rural Jiangsu despatched shockwaves by social media. After weeks of public outcry, official experiences lastly recognized the lady as “Xiaohuamei,” and admitted she was a sufferer of human trafficking. The Xiaohuamei case spurred some activists to push for accountability by way of offline actions, a uncommon step in recent times, and at the very least two activists had been detained in retaliation for his or her efforts.
In all of those circumstances, netizens have chafed on the stifling censorship that has successfully silenced most media shops, leaving rumors and citizen journalism competing to fill the data vacuum. This week, whereas steering away from the Guixi case, many official media shops as a substitute centered on condemning Li Yifeng, a widely known actor who was not too long ago detained by police for hiring intercourse staff. On-line commenters and bloggers have expressed frustration that vital tales involving susceptible or powerless people are all too usually drowned out by content material corresponding to gentle leisure information, celeb scandals, or censor-approved “constructive power” tales. WeChat blogger “lingu1212” in contrast the media silence in regards to the Guixi rape case with the flood of protection about two latest prostitution scandals:
The experiences [of the Guixi case] didn’t seize the web’s consideration. In 48 hours, actor Li Yifeng’s prostitution scandal would change into probably the most talked-about information throughout totally different platforms.
[…] Tons of of stories shops jumped at Li Yundi’s and Li Yifeng’s prostitution scandals as “melon eaters,” however I’ve to but to see any state media touch upon the social gathering chief’s crime. [Chinese]
Weibo consumer @霍岛主 bemoaned the wealth of extra vital content material being crowded out of their social media feeds:
I don’t want to examine Li Yifeng. I don’t want to examine any celebrities. At any given second, there are issues taking place which can be rather more vital than celeb gossip. But it surely looks like I don’t have a lot of a selection. Being pressured to see stuff about Li Yifeng pushed to my social media feeds means I’m being pressured to not see different vital stuff. [Chinese]
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