Shanghai Student Expelled After Drugging Woman’s Coffee

By Linda Guo, June 17, 2022

A male student, known only as Yin, has been expelled from Shanghai International Studies University for putting taurine, which has been assumed to increase libido, in a fellow student’s coffee.

A female student at the university was in the library on June 12, when she noticed a strange substance in her coffee and later reported it to security.

Later the same day, 21-year-old Yin was taken away by the police on suspicion of drugging her coffee.

On June 13, Shanghai police reported that Yin purchased a taurine effervescent tablet online and dropped half of it into the woman’s drink when she left her seat.

Yin was officially expelled by Shanghai International Studies University on June 14. At the same time, Yin lost his probationary member eligibility to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and may be further punished once the police investigation ends.

Fortunately, the victim was found to be healthy and suffered no side effects. However, she did express concerns that the incident may continue to traumatize her and she hopes that Yin ultimately takes responsibility for his actions.

Taurine effervescent tablets are widely available online and marketed as “aphrodisiacs for women.” However, no scientific evidence supports this claim.

Since the incident occurred, all taurine products that contain vulgar content in their promotion have been removed from online platforms.

Taurine is commonly found in, or added to sports drinks as a supplement due to its cardiovascular benefits.

This is not the first time that aphrodisiacs have been used on women.

In 2020, a man in a restaurant in Shenzhen was putting a white powder in the water of the woman next to him when he was stopped by a waiter.

The white powder was found to be Tadalafil, commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It is also not the only recent incident of misogyny in a Chinese university. On June 12, a student in Guangzhou was fined just RMB500, but not expelled, for filming women using the toilet at South China Agricultural University.

[Cover image via Weibo/@呼吸科大夫胡洋]