Woman Publicly Shamed in China After Stealing Electric Scooter

February 21, 2017

A Chinese woman who was caught stealing an electric scooter had to pay for her misdemeanor via public humiliation.

The unidentified woman, in her 40’s, was caught stealing an electronic scooter in Nanchong, Sichuan province. She was seized by neighborhood security and was immediately brought to the police, according to Shanghaiist.

Photos of a woman wearing a placard that said “I am thief” went viral on Chinese social media.

However, what caused even more attention was the sign hung around her neck which is classed as a form of public humiliation. It is not clear who put the “I am thief” sign on the woman but Chinese legal experts argued saying that humiliating the woman in public is “unacceptable.”

But not a lot of Chinese netizens felt the same way. In fact, many of them believe that the woman deserved the treatment she received.

“While this is very humiliating for a person, I don’t believe that thieves are people,” said one user.

Placing placards around the neck and making suspects walk around town is an old and popular form of punishment in many Asian countries. But in China, it looks like women, and in very rare occasions, animals, are not exempted from this kind of treatment.

Last month, photos of a rodent were shared across the internet after it received punishment for stealing rice. The poor rat was tied up on all its legs while a placard hung around its neck.

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