A man has been executed by the Chinese state for murdering his wife while she was livestreaming, the BBC reports.
The livestreamer, Lamu, was a renowned wanghong (internet celebrity) on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.
She had hundreds of thousands of followers and posted videos that focused on her life in the mountains of Sichuan province.
In June 2020, Lamu divorced her husband, Tang Lu, who had been physically abusive toward her.
Lamu, a mother of two, reported these cases of abuse to the police while the two were married. However, the police said they couldn’t get involved in family matters.
Three months after their divorce, Tang doused Lamu in petrol and set her on fire while she was livestreaming at her father's home.
She suffered 90% burns to her body and passed away two weeks later.
Tang was sentenced to death for the crime of murder. The court in Aba prefecture, southwest Sichuan said the crime was “extremely cruel.”
The case caused outrage among Chinese citizens, and reignited the debate about violence against women.
Many netizens discussed the case online, but hashtags relating to the topic were censored on Weibo.
Domestic violence was only criminalized in China in 2016, but there have been many infamous cases recently, such as the ‘woman in chains’ story.
READ MORE: Jiangsu Province Promise to Investigate 'Woman in Chains' Video
Aside from domestic violence, violence against women, in general, has been fiercely debated since the ‘Tangshan BBQ Restaurant Incident’ earlier this year.
The incident saw three women severely assaulted by a group of men after one of the females refused a man’s advances.
Not only did the case spark huge controversy, but it also shed a light on the deep-seated organized crime problem in Tangshan, Hebei province, 156 kilometers from Beijing.
READ MORE: Violence Against Women Sparks Outrage in China
[Cover image via Weibo@华图法硕考研]
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