Beijing — A Chinese guy on Friday used to be sentenced to 9 years in prison for abusing and unlawfully detaining a woman who used to be proven chained in a viral video that sparked an outcry in China remaining 12 months. The abuse of the woman, “Xiaohuamei,” or Little Plum Blossom, raised popular considerations in China in February remaining 12 months and now and then overshadowed Beijing’s Winter Olympics on-line. Her tale seemed in Chinese social media in spite of virtual and human censors and brought on commentators to exhort nationwide media to spotlight the scandal.
Social media
After the announcement of the sentencing on Friday, the case changed into one of essentially the most searched subjects at the Chinese social media platform Weibo, with many of us complaining that 9 years imprisonment for the person used to be too lenient of a punishment for what he did to her.
The courtroom in Xuzhou town that passed down the sentence stated in a commentary that Dong Zhimin and his past due father purchased Little Plum Blossom in the past due Nineteen Nineties for 5,000 yuan ($727) and that he had abused her in fresh years by way of chaining her across the neck and tying her frame with items of fabric and ropes. She suffered from starvation and lived in a spot with out water or electrical energy, it stated. That used to be in spite of him fathering 8 youngsters together with her.
“Dong Zhimin’s abuse has caused serious harm to Little Plum Blossom’s health. After examination, Little Plum Blossom was diagnosed with schizophrenia,” the commentary stated.
The courtroom additionally sentenced 5 others to prison for between 8 and 13 years and fined them for trafficking her many years in the past.
According to an investigation, Little Plum Blossom used to be first introduced to Jiangsu province on China’s japanese coast from southwestern Yunnan province after she used to be kidnapped by way of two of the 5 other folks in early 1998. They offered her to a farmer for 5,000 yuan ($727).
After dwelling with the farmer for some time, the woman went lacking and used to be discovered by way of a pair in Henan province in central China in June 1998. The couple then offered her to two others for 3,000 yuan ($436) and that pair therefore offered her for 5,000 yuan ($727) to the Dongs in Feng county in Jiangsu.
The spouse of the couple used to be no longer charged since the have an effect on of her position used to be regarded as rather minor, the courtroom stated, however her husband and the pair who offered Little Plum Blossom to Dong have been a few of the 5 who have been charged and sentenced for trafficking her.
The legitimate Xinhua news company quoted Little Plum Blossom’s physician in a file pronouncing she used to be nonetheless being handled in a medical institution. But her eldest son informed the company that his mom, who as soon as may just no longer determine him now and then, can now acknowledge him and make contact with him by way of his identify.
On Weibo, many of us expressed their anger over the case. “Only nine years? Nine years for ruining her life? Go to hell really,” one person wrote.