On May 10 this year, Deng Yujiao - a 21-year-old waitress at the Dream City 'leisure centre' in a hotel in Hubei province - stabbed a local party official to death and wounded another. When she was arrested, she claimed the officials had tried to force themselves on her.
Not so long ago, this was the kind of case that would have been dealt with quietly in a provincial court, far away from public view. But early news reports of the killing caught the public's attention.
The waitress was arrested and police mounted an investigation against her for involuntary manslaughter. After police found what were described as anti-depressants and sleeping pills, she was put in the psychiatric ward of a local hospital.
Wu Gan, 36, a blogger and online activist in Hubei, brought her plight to the attention of mainland netizens, and before long Ms Deng was the talk of the nation, with online posters and bloggers hailing her as a hero for resisting corrupt officials and as a champion of women's virtue.
Posting on the website Tianya, one blogger commented: 'Deng Yujiao, you are good. I admire and support you, and will learn from you.' Another blogger wrote: 'I would be content if I could marry a girl like this.'
Two lawyers, Xia Lin and Xia Nan, became involved in the case on May 21, but two days later they were dismissed by Ms Deng's mother under what appeared to be pressure by local police. She alleged that the police had destroyed the evidence that she and the lawyers had gathered.
On May 22, the central government ordered that all reports on the case toe the official line.