Video footage emerged online over the weekend of the terrifying moment when a suicidal man tossed a young girl from the third-floor balcony of a Foshan mall before leaping after her.
We have chosen not to include the disturbing footage in this story.
The youth, whose age has not been made public, suffered injuries to her head and butt as a result of the fall, according to South China Morning Post. Thankfully, the girl is in noncritical condition and is being treated at a hospital.
According to a statement published on Weibo by the Nanhai sub-bureau of the Foshan Public Security Bureau, the incident occurred at around noon on Saturday, when the girl exited a public toilet on the third floor of the shopping center and was grabbed by a 36-year-old man surnamed Li.
“At roughly 11am, Li went to the shopping center and began pacing around the third floor. At around noon, he noticed a girl emerging from the restroom, grabbed her and threw her from the third floor balcony down to the ground flood before jumping down himself,” according to the Foshan PSB’s Weibo post. Li survived the suicide attempt, suffering “multiple bone fractures” in the process.
The statement also notes that Li did not know his victim and that, during the police investigation, he said he was suicidal due to heavy financial pressures.
Police have detained Li and an investigation is currently underway.
Netizens are decidedly unsympathetic to Li’s motive and actions, with one Weibo user posting, “If he’s not dead, give him the same punishment again! That will send a warning to all of those who hate society.” Another netizen pointed out the man’s hesitation to jump after effortlessly tossing the young girl: “This video is cutoff. In the original version, the man hesitated for a long time before jumping. What the f**k! He threw the child off without the slightest hesitation, but then got all cowardly before he jumped.”
Over 16 million people have been following this truly sad story on Weibo.
Additional reporting by Ryan Gandolfo.
[Cover image: screengrab via Weibo]
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