China Local News
Man Beats His Wife to Death in Street in Shanxi, Bystanders Look On
A man killed his wife in Shanxi in the middle of the street, yet nobody intervened.
What started with a minor accident ended with a fatal beating on October 31st in Shuozhou (朔州), Shanxi province, where a man got outraged after a traffic collision and then killed his wife.
On Saturday morning, around 10:00 AM, the man was riding a small electric car with his wife as a passenger, when they bumped into another vehicle.
According to witnesses, the man tried to flee the scene of the accident but was held back by his wife. The elderly couple then started arguing, after which the man threw his wife to the ground and started beating her with a brick. The man also attacked his wife with a farming pitchfork.
Witness sharing what they saw at the scene, Wechat conversation shared on Weibo.
Shocking videos of the scene, shot by various bystanders, are making their rounds on social media. (Viewer discretion advised – warning for very graphic content.)
Some footage shot at the start of the incident shows that there are at least four bystanders looking on while the man drags the woman to the ground and hits her in the head with a stool.
Shanxi, yesterday – at least 4 people stand around as this man beats his wife. Nobody steps in to stop this 'marital conflict.' This is how it starts, but it ends up with the woman being stabbed & killed by her husband.
Many people looked on and filmed, yet nobody stopped him. pic.twitter.com/mzYRfJ6e2l
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) November 1, 2020
Footage shot at a later moment shows how the man stabs the woman’s body and face with the pitchfork as she lies motionless in the street.
As reported by various Chinese news outlets, there were many people at the scene; the incident occurred in a busy street in broad daylight. But before the police arrived, nobody stepped in to stop the man. The woman did not survive the attack.
On Sunday, the incident, including video footage shot by bystanders, went viral on Chinese social media. Some unofficial sources claimed the man had been intoxicated.
Local police issued a statement saying that the man has been detained.
Most of the discussions regarding this incident on Weibo focus on the fact that there were so many people passing by and watching this scene unfold while not stepping in.
“The coldness of the bystanders shocks and infuriates me,” one popular comment on Weibo said. “How can they just stand there with their arms folded?”
“Why is it more important to record this incident than to take action?”
“They’re worse than people witnessing an accident on a high-speed road,” one person wrote: “They’re so detached.”
There have been various incidents over the past decade in which China’s “bystander problem” became a topic of discussion, saying it relates to the Chinese concept of “mind your own business,” “shaoguanxianshi” (少管闲事), where people are accustomed to remaining uninvolved when it does not concern them.
The most well-known example is that of Wang Yue, the little toddler from Foshan who was run over by two vehicles in 2011 and laid in the street with 18 people passing her by without doing anything.
A notorious 2013 case is that of a 26-year-old Beijing woman who got her head stuck between railings next to a road. Although there were many people passing by and taking pictures, it took thirty minutes to call the police. The woman was later pronounced brain dead in the hospital.
Another incident that triggered a lot of anger in 2016 was that of an assault on a woman at a Beijing hotel. Video footage revealed how bystanders and hotel staff did not help the woman when she was attacked.
Sometimes people do not step in because they simply do not want to get involved and think someone else will solve the situation, and then there are those who do not intervene because they think it involves a marital dispute that an outside should not mingle in.
The first is an (arguably) global phenomenon also known as the ‘bystander effect’ or ‘bystander apathy‘, where people will not help a victim in need when other people are present. It is a social psychological matter – the more people who witness a person in peril, the less the chances are that one of them intervenes. In other words: one is more likely to help out in an emergency situation when one is alone than when there are ten people standing by.
But the second relates more to existing cultural and societal ideas about relationships and ‘private’ issues that nobody should interfere with. This topic recently also came up when Chinese vlogger Lhamu was killed by her ex-husband, with many people calling for more action against domestic abuse – stressing how important it is for people to realize that domestic violence is not a private matter.
“My god, why didn’t they just step in,” multiple people write: “This poor woman!”
“Would you dare to step in if you were present at the scene?”, one Weibo user asked other commenters.
“I would,” one person answered: “The guy uses a brick, not a gun. All it would take is for one person to go up and step forward.”
By Manya Koetse
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China Local News
Changsha Restaurant Employee Pays the Price after Protecting Abused Child
A Changsha restaurant employee who intervened when a mother beat her child ended up paying the price for it.
China Local News
Chinese Man Wants to Marry Deaf-Mute Girlfriend, Marriage License Application Gets Denied
The marriage was denied after a local official found the woman did not learn sign language and could not write.
WEIBO SHORTS
A man from Gongyi, Zhengzhou, Henan, recently became a trending topic on Chinese social media due to the denial of his marriage license application with his girlfriend, who is deaf and mute.
According to Chinese media reports, both sets of parents had consented to the marriage, and the couple had already taken their wedding photos. However, the local Bureau of Civil Affairs rejected their application, citing the requirement for both parties to independently declare their intention to marry.
The woman, who had never attended a school for the Deaf, lacked the ability to use sign language, write, or communicate effectively. The Bureau advised the couple to return once she had completed her education and could express her desire to marry.
The potential future mother-in-law of the young woman spoke to Chinese media, explaining that her daughter-in-law’s situation was unique, as she had not attended a specialized school and therefore could not meet the marriage requirements.
The man’s mother expressed disappointment about the marriage being denied in an online interview.
As news of this incident circulated on Chinese social media, many people praised the “responsible decision” of the local Bureau of Civil Affairs.
Last year, one human trafficking case gained national prominence after a TikTok vlogger exposed the horrific living conditions of a woman in Xuzhou who appeared to be unable to communicate. She was married with eight children and kept in a shed next to the house, tied to a chain.
It later turned out that local officials made errors in properly checking and verifying when approving the marriage certificate.
While many people believe that cases like the one in Xuzhou should never occur again, some also feel that the situation in Gongyi is unfair to the girl. Given that both sets of parents had already consented to the marriage, and the couple had even taken wedding photos, some argue that it is unreasonable to expect the girl to learn sign language before proceeding with the marriage.
One commenter from Sichuan points out: “Ordinary people who are facing infidelity and domestic violence during their marriages already struggle with divorce. For a deaf and mute person who cannot communicate through sign language and who has no way of communicating, we can’t be sure about their marriage intentions. However, we can be sure that if they need a divorce, it might be a nearly insurmountable challenge.”
█ Also read: Twists and Turns in the Tragic Story of the Xuzhou Chained Mother
By Manya Koetse
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