Chinese Good Samaritan questioned over assault appeals to social media for justice
- Man who claims he stepped in as a woman was being attacked then spent 14 days being questioned by police wins offers of moral and big money support
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A Chinese man who claims he is being punished after he stopped a man from assaulting a woman has taken to social media with a plea for justice – and his appeal has struck a chord with the public.
Zhao Yu, 21, from Fuzhou, Fujian province, told the South China Morning Post he was at home with his pregnant wife on the evening of December 26 when he heard a door being kicked downstairs. A while later, he heard someone call out: “Help! Rape!”
He claimed he went outside and found a man holding a woman by her throat at her flat. Zhao pulled the man away, he said, and the man struck him on the neck and chest.
The man grabbed at Zhao’s hands then tried to hit him again. Zhao said he responded by kicking the man in the stomach. The woman pulled Zhao away, while her roommate called the police.
Zhao told the Post he then returned to his flat at the insistence of his wife.
The roommate told broadcaster Fuzhou TV that she, her friend and the man Zhao fought were taken to a police station for questioning and released.
Three days later, police held Zhao for assault – the man he fought had complained about the kick to the stomach. Zhao was held for 14 days.
On release, Zhao consulted a lawyer, who told him that if he was tried and convicted he faced three to seven years in prison and a fine of between 200,000 and 600,000 yuan (US$29,550 and US$88,663). He panicked and took to Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, and Fuzhou TV for help.
“Can a Good Samaritan really not have a good return? Is this how society treats me?” he wrote on Weibo.
In the news on Monday, Fuzhou TV interviewed the man Zhao fought, who gave his surname as Li. He claimed that he was standing in the doorway when Zhao kicked him in the stomach for no reason, causing intestinal injuries that left him with a 50,000 yuan hospital bill.
When asked by the reporter what he was doing standing in the doorway, he said: “I was playing there.” He claimed he knew the woman and was dropping her at home after a night out.
However, the woman told Fuzhou TV that Li followed her home and started pestering her. She said Li wanted to spend the night with her. She refused, and Li grabbed at her. They got into a tussle which ended up outside her flat, where Zhao encountered them.
Fuzhou police told the Post a team was investigating the matter and would report soon.
Reports of Zhao’s predicament have gone viral on social media, with most people taking his side. They said they found it unacceptable that he should face harsh consequences and some wondered if anyone would step into a similar situation in future.
“If you cannot protect Good Samaritans, then do not encourage good deeds,” one wrote.
“When I get in trouble like this, I want a man like Zhao to step up and rescue me,” another wrote.
Sun Yuchen, who is verified on Weibo as the chief executive of instant messaging app Peiwo, offered to 10 million yuan to Zhao to defend himself in court if needed. So far, Zhao has not publicly responded to the offer.
Wang Zhenyu, a lawyer at Beijing-based Yipai Law Firm, said it was unlikely that Zhao would face prosecution, and said a long detention period during a police investigation was quite common in many cases.
“The high frequency and long period of detention is something that needs to be reformed,” Wang said.
