China woman asks neighbour not to use toilet at night, blasts loud music when ignored
Woman becomes angry when upstairs neighbour used toilet, brushed teeth, accidentally dropped bottle caps
A court in eastern China ruled that a woman must pay her upstairs neighbour 19,600 yuan (US$2,750) after she took drastic measures to retaliate against what she perceived as his noisy lifestyle.
The man who owns the upstairs flat, surnamed Zhang, filed a lawsuit after the woman attempted to restrict him from performing basic night-time activities, including using the toilet, due to her heightened sensitivity to noise.
The woman, surnamed Wang, lived on the first floor of a residential block in Zhejiang province, and she is accused of making loud noises in revenge for her neighbour’s perceived sound violations.
As reported by Jiupai News, the upstairs neighbour took significant steps to accommodate Wang’s growing concerns about noise, including wearing soft slippers indoors and carpeting the floors after she began to express her dissatisfaction in January 2022 regarding his perceived “loud” activities.
Despite his efforts, Wang’s sensitivity to the sounds coming from his flat only intensified, prompting her to voice complaints over even the most minor noises, such as brushing his teeth, bathing, or accidentally dropping bottle caps. Additionally, she requested that he refrain from using the toilet after 10pm.
In the lawsuit, the man said that when he would violate the noise rules with mundane activities such as daily chores, Wang would knock on the ceiling of her unit with a stick or make other loud noises with a speaker.