BEIJING: A high-profile case of human trafficking involving a lady found chained in a remote town last year led to the imprisonment of six persons including he husban by a Chinese court.
A crackdown on bride trafficking resulted from the case, which terrified the nation. The woman’s husband received a nine-year sentence for torturing, abusing, and holding the lady captive.
The other five were given sentences ranging from eight to thirteen years. Yet, many people who reacted to the verdict on Friday claimed that the improvements were still insufficient and the punishments were too light.
In January 2022, a Chinese vlogger discovered Xiaohuamei with an iron chain around her neck and living in a cabin with a dirt floor outside her family’s home in the village of Xuzhou province.The Fengxian County vlogger’s video quickly gained popularity.
In it, he expressed concerns about human trafficking and mentioned that Xiaohuamei, who was in her 40s, was said to have had eight children and appeared “dazed” and mentally unsound.
The incident attracted the Chinese people’s attention, many of whom joined in a relentless internet campaign for women’s justice. The local town authorities first downplayed suspicions of human trafficking by asserting that the pair had a valid marriage license and had just experienced marital difficulties.
Officials also used her husband Dong Zhimin’s justification that he had Xiaohuamei locked up because of her schizophrenia and propensity for violent outbursts. However, such claims merely heightened the public’s fury. That intensified internet criticism that authorities had disregarded the woman’s condition and maybe that of other trafficking victims.
It resulted in a criminal investigation and pledges from police to crack down on the trafficking of women and children. At the trial, many case details were confirmed for the first time this week.
The court found that Xiaohuamei had been kidnapped as a teenager from her native Yunnan province in 1998 and sold to a farmer in Donghai province for 5,000 yuan, which at the time was equivalent to roughly £360 or $600.
She was once more sold to traffickers a year later, this time to a couple who arranged for her sale to Dong’s father. The judges noted that Xiaohuamei had been “essentially able to take care of herself and speak with others” when she arrived at Dong’s home. Dong was found guilty by the court of torturing and mistreating his wife.
He pushed Xiaohuamei to bear children, the firstborn in 1999 and a further seven between 2011 and 2020. The third kid caused Xiao’s schizophrenia to deteriorate. According to the Intermediate People’s Court of Xuzhou City in Jiangsu province, Dong escalated his aggressive behavior in retaliation.
In 2017, he relocated her from the house to the outdoor hut, where he kept her restrained with chains and canvas ropes. No water, electricity, or light was available in the hut, and she frequently missed meals.
The presiding judge, Yao Hui, claimed that Dong had regularly caused his wife to become pregnant despite her illness and had never taken her to the doctor when she was ill.
The news of the verdicts remained at the top of the social media platform Weibo on Friday, where it received over 100 million hits within the first hour of the judgment. For the most part, users were upset and angry with the penalties.
Just this much for making someone’s life miserable, a user questioned. Another comment said, “It’s her whole life, but just nine years for him,” and another said, “Nine years isn’t enough time for her to give birth eight times.”
Others, however, emphasized that the standard maximum punishment for offenses involving human trafficking is ten years.
Last year, activists pushed for legal reform because minor punishments would not dissuade traffickers and buyers in the bridal market. In the online conversation on Friday, one user commented, “Amend the law, the sentence is too lenient.”
Some also asked about Xiaohuamei’s current condition. Chinese media said she was removed from her village last year after her case became known and taken to a medical ward where she remains.
