A video of a woman, mother of eight children, chained to a hut wearing thin clothes in freezing winter in Xuzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, has recently gone viral on Chinese social media, infuriating the Chinese public who is demanding help for the woman and an investigation into the case.

Xuzhou authorities said in an announcement on Monday that the woman has been identified to be a missing person reported in Southwest China's Yunnan Province who had shown an abnormal conduct before marrying her husband. She has now been sent to hospital for treatment. Local disciplinary officials are examining the case for evidence of negligence of duty in this matter, the announcement said.

The woman has been identified as Xiaohuamei from Yagu village in Yunnan. Her parents passed away and, as her relatives and villagers recalled, she got married in 1994 and after two years she divorced and returned to the village. She later showed abnormal speech and conduct.

A villager surnamed Sang took Xiaohuamei to Jiangsu for medical treatment, the notice said. Sang told the police that she was entrusted by Xiaohuamei's mother to take her to Jiangsu for treatment while looking for a good family to marry her.

However, after the two arrived by train in Jiangsu, Xiaohuamei got lost and Sang never reported it to the police nor did she inform Xiaohuamei's parents. Follow-up investigations on this matter will be announced in due course, the notice said.

The investigation team has organized medical experts to evaluate Xiaohuamei's schizophrenia and has conducted a comprehensive treatment. Her mental condition is now stabilized and other health indicators returned normal.

The DNA identification by Nanjing Medical University Forensic Institute suggests that Xiaohuamei and her husband, surnamed Dong, are the biological parents of the eight children.

Police have launched an investigation to determine if Dong committed a crime and relevant information will be announced in due course. Dong's guardianship of his minor children will also be determined in accordance with the law.

The notice further said that authorities have learned a deep lesson from this incident and will implement effective measures to strengthen the support and protection of various groups in need.

The video of the locked-up woman was first released online on January 28. In the video, the woman was wearing light clothes with an iron chain placed around her neck confining her to a hut with no door that exposed her to the freezing winter.

A previous notice issued by Xuzhou authorities said that the woman married Dong in 1998 and no child abduction was found in the case. Her relatives and neighbors recalled that the woman suffered from a mental condition and would beat up elders and children with no reason.