Chinese man detained after horror attack on woman sparks nationwide manhunt
- Police say accused did not know his victim, had been drinking after argument with his girlfriend
- Internet sleuths identify location of assault in response to national appeal for help
Police in northeastern China have detained a man they say launched a vicious attack on a woman at the weekend, after shocking video of the assault sparked outrage and a nationwide manhunt.
Dalian police detained a 31-year-old man, surnamed Wang, on Tuesday night more than 24 hours after footage from a surveillance camera at the scene turned up on Chinese social media. The video was time and date stamped at 12.44am on Saturday, but it was unknown where the crime had occurred.
Cyber police in the southwestern province of Sichuan took the unusual step on Monday of appealing for help from China’s online community in identifying the location of the attack, in which the woman was punched and kicked repeatedly in the head, before her assailant dragged her by the hair out of the camera frame.
Media outlets, including Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, joined the call for help from the public in identifying where the assault had occurred.
Internet sleuths finally managed to identify the location on Tuesday as a street in Ganjingzi district in Dalian, Liaoning province, and pushed local police to step up their investigation.