My Take | Pictures that tell of a woman’s true bravery
Zhou Yan, scarred after being set alight by a spurned classmate, has been rightly praised for her courage as she posts pictures of herself online
There is something haunting about the photos that Zhou Yan posts online of herself showing her terrible disfigurements after being set alight by a spurned classmate.
Despite the permanent and extensive scars on her face and the rest of her body, Zhou, now 21, from Hefei, Anhui province, is still a beautiful young lady.
Even the 30 per cent burns on her body and the loss of an ear she suffered five years ago cannot suppress her youthful beauty.
In a perverse way, you can almost understand how Tao Rukun, then a 17-year-old kid, became erotically obsessed with Zhou. Inexperienced and spoiled, he was the only son of two government officials. He doused her with fuel and set her on fire after she rejected his advances. He was subsequently sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Zhou’s action is at once a protest and an affirmation. It’s only human to try to hide your scars and disfigurements.
In posting those photos, she is forcing us not only to see past her scars, but to confront this universal crime – sexual violence against women.