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Crime in China
China

Award-winning Chinese reporter’s account of years of domestic violence causes uproar on social media

  • Ma Jinyu, who left journalism to run a honey farm with her husband, says she suffered years of abuse at his hands
  • Ma’s accusations trigger fierce debate online, and comes soon after the murder of a well-known vlogger caused widespread shock and anger

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Ma Jinyu says her estranged husband Xie Chengde regularly beat her. Photo: Handout
Mandy Zuo

An award-winning former reporter has taken Chinese social media by storm after saying she suffered years of domestic violence at the hands of her husband.

In a detailed description posted on social media platform WeChat on Saturday, Ma Jinyu, who gave up her journalist career to marry a honey farmer in a remote county on the Tibetan Plateau nine years ago, accused her husband of frequently beating her, sometimes causing serious injury.

Her comments come amid a growing awareness of domestic abuse and follow widespread public outrage a few months ago after a social media personality died after being allegedly set on fire by her husband.
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Ma, who worked for some of China’s leading newspapers including The Beijing News and Southern People Weekly, said she had left her husband over two years ago and had taken the couple’s three children with her.

She said she had chosen to speak out because she wanted to explain to the public why she left Guide county in Qinghai, where she and her husband Xie Chengde ran a successful honey farm that once featured on state television.

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