Public suicide of harassment victim in China sparks online soul-searching

BEIJING: The suicide of a Chinese student who threw herself off a building after complaining of sexual harassment by a teacher has sparked online anguish about social decay, particularly because some onlookers egged her on and clapped when she jumped.

The 19-year-old student surnamed Li jumped to her death from the eighth storey of a building in the city of Qingyang last Wednesday.

Videos of the incident shared online showed Li sitting on a ledge for hours while rescue workers tried to talk her down. Some passersby on the street below heckled her, shouting “How come you haven’t jumped yet?”

When she jumped, some people clapped while a rescuer worker screamed out in distress. Police have detained some onlookers who shouted at Li, according to the China Youth Daily newspaper.

Online commentators lamented the callousness of the crowd.

“How cold is society that people will ask her to jump?” one asked. “The sound of the rescue worker’s heart being torn reflects the evil of humanity.”

Li’s parents say their daughter became depressed after she was sexually harassed in September by a teacher who had tried to kiss and hug her, the newspaper reported.

The parents were offered US$53,564 in compensation by the school but they declined it as that would have required withdrawing their complaint against the teacher.