A man from Jinan, East China's Shandong Province is seen sexually assaulting a female student who was walking alone on a school campus on August 22, 2018. He tried to sue police for releasing the video on social media but the case was thrown out of court. Photo: screenshot of video posted by Btime
Investigations are underway after several government departments responded to claims of an alleged pornographic live broadcast of an underage girl being raped on a livestreaming platform.
A netizen reported Monday on China's biggest microblogging platform Sina Weibo that a 31-minute live broadcast video showing a man raping an underage girl was circulating on a livestreaming platform, which was dated in May.
In the video, the man claimed to be in Wenshan, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, who said he paid 9,000 yuan ($1,326) to find a girl in junior high school to "test whether she is a virgin." The girl struggled and screamed during the assault, while two other girls, who also appear to be underage, are shown being threatened by the man and ordered to help hold down the victim. The man also claimed in the video that he has performed the "virgin-checking show" many times.
The report quickly drew the ire of netizens, who called for a thorough investigation of the case.
On the same day, the country's anti-pornography and anti-illegal publication office responded to the event, saying the office has joined the Public Security Bureau of Yunnan to carry out investigations.
"Once the criminal activities are confirmed, the criminals will be punished severely in accordance with the law," China's anti-pornography and anti-illegal publication office wrote in a statement on Monday.
On Monday, the Wenshan Public Security Bureau released an announcement stating that local public security organs are carrying out a thorough investigation.
A staff member at the office of the Wenshan Women's Federation told thepaper.cn that the Federation had checked with the local public security bureau after receiving complaints from the public regarding the incident, and confirmed that the investigation "is being processed."
The staff member also said that the women's federation will provide assistance, including psychological aid, to any woman who has been assaulted and hurt in such incidents.
