Chinese social media was rocked last week after several photos and comments of people cheering and applauding the suicide of a female student from Qingyang in Gansu Province, China.
The woman, identified as Li Yi-yi, committed suicide by jumping from a high building on June 21, according to What’s On Weibo.
She was reportedly suffering from depression after people from her school and local authorities refused to believe her when she told them her high school teacher sexually assaulted her in 2016.
In her report, which was leaked online, the 19-year-old student went into detail about the assault. Li, who was only 17 at the time, went into her school’s infirmary after experiencing stomachache, Shanghaiist reported.
Her teacher, surnamed Wu, went to check on her in the resting area. That’s when the man reportedly touched the girl inappropriately, kissed her mouth, and bit her ear. He also touched her lower back and ripped off some of Li’s clothes. Another teacher entered the medical room and the student was immediately sent back to her dormitory.
Li then went to the school’s counselor the following day to talk about the incident, China Times reported.
The school also reportedly tried to sweep the whole incident under the rug. The teacher received unspecified disciplinary action and was made to apologize to the student.
Li’s family was offered 350,000 yuan ($53,387) by the school to not file a lawsuit against Wu. Li’s father turned down the bribe.
After an unsuccessful attempt at trying to find justice, Li then tried to report the sexual assault to local authorities, only to be met with the same fate. Wu was eventually released 10 days after he claimed that he only touched the student for a “physical examination” and to check if she had a fever. He was not charged and was able to go back to school to be Li’s teacher.
The student gave up taking further legal action against her teacher and suffered from depression and PT SD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
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The assault pushed Li to try to end her life even before her tragic death last week by reportedly swallowing pills.
Her suicide was captured on a now-deleted video, which showed the heartbreaking moment she let go of the ledge as a firefighter desperately tries to save her from jumping.
Before jumping, Li reportedly told the brave firefighter, “Brother, thank you, I want to go to heaven.”
The firefighter’s cry of agony can be heard in the clip after she let go. A crowd of people watching and live streaming the whole incident on Kuaishou gasped when the woman jumped, cheering right after she landed on the ground.
Many onlookers in Qingyang showed a lack of empathy when Li sat on the edge of the building. Some live streamed her dilemma with the title “1, 2, 3, Jump,” BuzzFeed reported.
Another live stream was also set up with a text overlay that said, “If you want to jump, hurry up. You’re holding up the traffic.”
Comments on China’s social media platform, Weibo, were also hurtful:
“Just jump, what are you sitting there waiting for?”
“Hurry up and jump. After I watch you jump, I still gotta go pick my kids up from school.”
“Still not jumping, it’s been so many hours.”
Pictures and screenshots taken at the scene also showed some people cheering and clapping.
Others were arrested by authorities for showcasing disgusting behavior. Global Times reported that people who cheered for her death and were being “disrespectful to life” were taken into custody.
While some showed their insensitive side, others criticized how people can be so heartless.
“What is wrong with this society? A girl jumps off the building, and the onlookers are laughing and encouraging her to do it, and other people live stream it on Kuaishou. Humanity is so ugly. The murderer is still at large, and these ‘murderers’ whose consciences have been eating by dogs. Rest in peace,” the user in the above Weibo post wrote.
If you or someone you know is thinking about committing suicide or hurting themselves, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Featured Image via ET Today
