Three men pay out 90k yuan in groom hazing lawsuit

A district court in Southwest China awarded 90,000 yuan ($14,221) to a groom who was left facially disfigured after a hazing incident at the hands of three friends, media reported Wednesday.

The groom surnamed Xia of Zunyi, Guizhou Province had suffered severe facial fractures as a result of the wedding day prank in December 2016.

The three men, surnamed Zhou, Liu and Zhu, were accused of taking Xia from a vehicle in his wedding motorcade and thoroughly binding him with packing tape, the Bozhou district court heard.

During the commotion, Xia fell flat on his face.

Instead of the banquet hall, Xia was rushed to a hospital, where he stayed for the next month undergoing re-constructive surgery.

When none of the men stepped forward to take responsibility, Xia filed a lawsuit on January 31 seeking 120,000 yuan in damages.

The court reached a settlement of 107,200 yuan.

However, Xia was found to be 15 percent at fault for his injuries, bringing his compensation to around 90,000 yuan.

The men are no longer on speaking terms, media reported.

The incident once again draws attention to China’s tradition of nao hun, or hazing of grooms and brides, which in recent years has attracted negative attention for cases involving injuries and sexual harassment.

In a more extreme local case, a groom suffered life-threatening burns in 2009 during a hazing that backfired.