BEIJING: Chinese prosecutors have pledged to strengthen efforts against offenses that undermine people’s sense of security after video footage showing several men assaulting women in Hebei province sparked public outrage over the weekend.
Prosecutors across the country should forcefully fight gang-related crimes, with more focus on dealing with offenses that harm national security and involve serious violence, said Zhang Jun, procurator-general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, China’s top prosecutor. He also called for efficient measures and harsher punishments for people who make provocations toward or damage the legitimate rights of women, children, the elderly or the disabled.
He set forth the requirements on Monday, soon after footage of the high-profile assault incident in Tangshan, Hebei, went viral online and aroused a public outcry.
In the footage recorded during the early hours of the morning on Friday at a barbecue restaurant in the city, a male customer is seen allegedly harassing a female customer and then brutally attacking her after she resisted his advances. The man’s companions later joined in, beating the woman and her female friends.
In the video, the female customer can be seen being thrown to the ground, hit and stomped on before the assailants fled the scene. By Saturday afternoon, nine people suspected of the assault had been detained. The next day, prosecutors in Langfang, Hebei, approved the detentions.
Later, the province launched a campaign to improve public order and provided channels for people to report criminal activities they have encountered.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
