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Chinese authorities have arrested nine people on suspicion of violently assaulting several women in a restaurant after surveillance footage of the attack sparked widespread outrage.
Images of a barbecue restaurant in Tangshan, northern Hebei Province, marked with Friday time at 2:40 a.m., showed one of the men approaching a table where a group of four women sitting and putting their hand on the back of a woman.
She rejected him several times before he got angry and slapped her, prompting her to fight. There was a fight, with a group of men entering the restaurant and brutally assaulting the woman and her dining companions, including throwing them to the ground, kicking them and even throwing them. a chair.
Images taken from outside the restaurant also showed the attackers dragging out of the establishment the woman who had rejected the man’s advances and brutally beating her while most passers-by and customers watched.
Photographs of her lying on a stretcher, with her face swollen and bleeding, as well as images of the attack, went viral online.
Aggression and public outcry renewed a conversation about misogyny and mistreatment of women in China. Earlier this year, a viral video of a woman chained to a wall in a shack sparked a public backlash after authorities initially denied her being a victim of human trafficking. It was later found that she had been sold as a bride.
The nine suspects were arrested on Saturday, according to a statement from authorities issued on the Weibo microblogging platform.
Two women had suffered life-threatening injuries and were being treated at a hospital. His condition was reported to be stable. Two others were slightly injured.
Pictures of what happened both inside and outside the restaurant lasted just under five minutes. The Weibo user who was one of the first to post the videos said in a post that it was “heartbreaking” to see them.
“Does that mean dining out is so unsafe now, we have to take men with us everywhere? Read the post.” (These men) are no different from thugs. “
When contacted, the user declined to reveal the source of the videos, saying it was “uncomfortable” to do so. On Sunday, video of images filmed inside the restaurant had garnered more than 68 million views, while images showing the graphic assault outside the restaurant had been removed.
Social media users have condemned the attack and criticized Tangshan police for being slow in arresting the suspects.
“I’m a woman and I have a daughter,” said a Weibo user with BaobaomaoDaren handling. “I wonder: while I’m creating value for society and spreading positive energy, will this society protect me and my son?”
State broadcaster CCTV said in an online comment that the suspects should be arrested as soon as possible and “severely satiated in accordance with the law” in order to be accountable to the victims and the public.
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Associated Press news researchers Caroline Chen and Henry Hou in Beijing contributed to this report.