Lead Attacker in Brutal Assault in North China Gets 24 Years in Prison

In June, an episode of gender-based violence shocked China: A group of men brutally attacked and injured four women after one of the women rejected their advances in a restaurant in Tangshan, in North China’s Hebei province.

Security footage of the incident widely circulated the internet, sparking public outrage and rallying cries for justice and protection for women. An investigation was conducted by authorities from a different city after several local police officers were suspected of taking bribes and covering up for local gangs.

As a result, 28 individuals received criminal charges, and some of the perpetrators were found guilty of previous crimes, including illegal detention, intentional injury, opening casinos, and robbery.

According to a notice released by the local court on September 23, the main suspect Chen Jizhi has been sentenced to 24 years in prison and fined 230,000 RMB (about 45,100 USD).

The remaining 27 individuals, who either participated in the beating or had been involved in other gang activities with the attackers, were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from six months to 11 years and received fines ranging between 3,000 to 135,000 RMB (about 422 to 19,000 USD).

Many members of the public spent days anxiously waiting for the sentence to drop. The judge’s final decision immediately went viral on the Chinese micro-blogging platform Weibo, and a related hashtag has amassed more than 870 million views at the time of writing.

In the comments section, many netizens have rejoiced over justice being served. Some even believe that the attackers deserve harsher sentences or death penalties.

Other episodes of gender-based violence in 2021 and 2022 include a Tibetan woman being burned alive by her ex-husband, another woman in eastern Jiangsu province being trafficked and chained, plus a drink-spiking incident that took place in a university library in Shanghai.

All images via Weibo