Harassment victim's suicide sparks soul-searching
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E-mail China Daily, June 26, 2018
The suicide of a Chinese student who threw herself off a building after complaining of sexual harassment by a teacher has sparked online anguish about social decay, particularly because some onlookers egged her on and clapped when she jumped.
The 19-year-old student surnamed Li jumped to her death from the eighth storey of a building in the city of Qingyang on Wednesday, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Monday.
Footage of the teenager's suicide was widely shared on WeChat and other social media.
Videos showed Li sitting on a ledge for hours while rescue workers tried to talk her down. Some passersby on the street below heckled her, shouting "How come you haven't jumped yet?"
When she jumped, some people clapped while a rescuer worker screamed out in distress.
Police have detained some onlookers who shouted at Li, according to the newspaper.
Online commentators lamented the callousness of the crowd.
"How cold is society that people will ask her to jump?" one person asked. "The sound of the rescue worker's heart being torn reflects the evil of humanity."
Father blames school sexual assault for teen's suicide
The father of Li has said his daughter was struggling to cope after being sexually assaulted by her high school teacher, the newspaper said on Monday.
Her father said his daughter was a senior at Qingyang No 6 High School in 2016 when a male teacher initiated unwanted sexual contact.
Doctors at Beijing Anding Hospital had diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress, he told the paper, adding that she had attempted suicide multiple times.
An employee in Qingyang's publicity department said Li's depression began before the alleged encounter with Wu. "However, the teacher didn't maintain proper behavioral standards," they added.
Li left a handwritten note saying, "In an age when I should have lived as a shining flower, I actually don't know why I should stay alive."
The parents were offered 350,000 yuan ($53,564) in compensation by the school but they declined it as that would have required withdrawing their complaint against the teacher.
"We could not sign that humiliating agreement," the newspaper quoted the parents as saying.
The Qingyang education bureau had disciplined the teacher at and organised the compensation package, the paper reported.
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