EditorialChina’s attack video raises alarming questions
- Brutal assault on women at restaurant in Tangshan, Hebei province, shines spotlight on disturbing issue that receives scant public attention
The positive aspects of social media are too often overshadowed by the negatives. But a brutal assault on women in a restaurant in the city of Tangshan in Hebei province caught on video and posted online has shone a spotlight on an issue that gets scant public attention.
The manner of the attack, brutality with which it was carried out and failure of fellow diners to respond have garnered nationwide comment, the anger and volume guaranteeing quick action from authorities. Unusually for such a crime, arrests have promptly been made, an investigation of gangs and their links ordered, a hotline set up to report unlawful incidents and a pledge made that safety of citizens is utmost and there will not be a repeat.
The violence is shocking. A man approaches a table at which four women are eating and puts his hand on the back of one.
She responds angrily, but is hit in the face when she turns around. Her companions stand up to help but a group of people rush in and join the fray.
The initial victim is dragged out by the hair and another video shows her lying on the footpath near tables of other diners, her assailant repeatedly stomping on her head. One of her friends is seen being thrown on her back on nearby steps.