China – Fatal Domestic Violence Attack – Phone Video Went Viral Online
Author: Administrator
Date: November 25, 2020
More than 900 women have died at the hands of their husbands or partners since China’s law against domestic violence was enacted in 2016, according to Beijing Equality, a women’s rights group.
By Elsie Chen – November 15, 2020
Lhamo, a Tibetan farmer in southwestern China, lived her life mostly outdoors and shared it online, posting videos of herself cooking, singing and picking herbs in the mountains around her village. By this fall, she had about 200,000 followers, many of whom praised her as cheerful and hardworking.
Over 400 of them were watching one evening in mid-September as Ms. Lhamo, 30, streamed a video live from her kitchen on Douyin, the Chinese version of the TikTok app. Suddenly, a man stormed in and Ms. Lhamo screamed. Then the screen went dark.
Ms. Lhamo died two weeks later.
Her case, one of several that have gained national attention this year, reflects the shortcomings of China’s legal system in protecting women from domestic violence — even when they repeatedly seek help, as Ms. Lhamo did.
Public outrage has helped some get justice, including a woman in Henan Province who was denied a divorce until she posted video evidence of her abuse. But for many women like Ms. Lhamo it comes too late.
On Sept. 12, two days before the attack that would kill her, Lhamo posted a video saying she was going home.
In July, a man in the eastern city of Hangzhou was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife after her dismembered remains were found in a communal septic tank. Late last month, video footage went viral that appeared to show a man in Shanxi Province beating his wife to death in front of bystanders.
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