Chinese authorities yesterday said they had arrested a man accused of keeping his wife chained in a shack and punished at least 17 local officials over a case that has sparked viral outrage.
The incident triggered intense debate on mental health and human trafficking last month after a blogger’s video showed her with a chain and padlock around her neck in freezing weather in Jiangsu Province.
Provincial authorities said the woman was found to have schizophrenia and had been sold several times, including once in 1998 for 5,000 yuan (US$792), after being taken from her village in Yunnan Province.
Officials said that “special actions to comprehensively and thoroughly investigate and rectify the violation of rights” were being taken.
They added that the woman — known as “Xiaohuamei,” which means “little plum blossom” and is likely a nickname — is a mother of eight children and is receiving hospital treatment.
Officials in the area where she was found had initially denied allegations of any abduction and trafficking, but higher-level investigations were launched after a public outcry.
Xiaohuamei is said to have disappeared after living for a few months with a man in Jiangsu who had bought her, and was soon taken in by a couple who operated a hotel, the probe found.
She was then sold again to two other people before being bought by her current husband’s family.
The husband, surnamed Dong, was formally arrested on Tuesday, along with two other people accused of trafficking, authorities said.
Investigations are ongoing against six others allegedly involved in trafficking her, while eight local officials have been dismissed from their posts and nine others handed various punishments.
The case continued to generate anger yesterday, with a related hashtag on China’s Sina Weibo platform attracting 580 million views shortly after the news of the punishments came.
“The credibility of our government has long been lost,” one user said of the latest statement. “You haven’t shown us evidence.”
Others called for a national crackdown on trafficking.
China’s one-child policy — only relaxed in 2016 — has led to a shortage of women due to a traditional preference for boys.
The resulting gender imbalance is believed to have fueled human trafficking, a US congressional report said.
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including