Chinese woman dragged away by family in viral bride price dispute video asks the internet to calm down

A video of a woman being dragged from her home over an apparent 500,000 yuan (US$78,600) bride price dispute went viral in China

The woman in the video asked people to stop cyberbullying her family and said there was more nuance to the situation

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A viral video depicts a woman being dragged from her home by her family. Photo: Eastday.com

Published: 9:00am, 15 Feb 2022Updated: 10:43am, 15 Feb 2022

A video of a woman being violently dragged from a home she shared with her prospective husband because he apparently could not afford a 500,000 yuan (US$78,600) bride price went viral on the Chinese internet over the weekend.

Amid a torrent of outrage and abuse, the woman, surnamed Gao, urged netizens to stop cyberbullying her family, which she said had got out of control.

Her boyfriend, surnamed Zhang, posted the video on Bilibili, a Chinese video-sharing platform. He said Gao was physically removed from their new home after her parent’s opposed the marriage because he could not afford the bride price.

In the video, Gao was pulled out of her house in Yinchuan, in Ningxia autonomous region in northwest China, and, at one moment, was dragged along the ground when she fell. Zhang tried to stop Gao’s family as they forced her into their car, only to get pushed to the ground.

The woman, surnamed Gao, asked netizens to stop cyberbullying her family. Photo: Eastday.com

The video triggered a public outcry from people who said there was too much parental interference in marriages in China.

Zhang said in the post: “We have been together for six years and, with our joint efforts, we now own property. We are planning to start a family. Our property is under her name to ease concerns from her mother, but the marriage has still been met with strong opposition.”

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