-- Kuaishou closes livestreaming accounts
-- Qingyang teacher barred for harassment
-- Two held for cheering as girl jumps off building
-- Suicide sparks online soul-searching
-- Father blames school sexual assault for teen's suicide
Chinese video-streaming app Kuaishou has deleted 12 user accounts after they livestreamed the suicide of a 19-year-old woman in Qingyang, Gansu province.
The woman, identified as Li, leapt from the eighth floor of a department store on June 20 as a crowd watched from below. In footage recorded at the scene, onlookers can be heard cheering and applauding as Li falls to her death.
Kuaishou said it had found three accounts that had posted inappropriate videos of the incident and nine others with inappropriate comments. All 12 accounts have been deleted, it said on Tuesday.
The social media company said it has strengthened the review process for videos and can now monitor and interrupt livestreams that contain inappropriate content.
Li’s death sparked widespread anger online. In the videos, Li is seen sitting on a ledge for hours while rescue workers try to talk her down. Some passers-by on the street below heckled, shouting: “Why haven’t you jumped yet?”
The woman’s father said his daughter suffered from severe depression, which was exacerbated by unwanted physical contact by her high school teacher, Wu Yonghou, who allegedly held and kissed her in September 2016.
After the incident at school, the father said Li attempted suicide four times by trying to overdose on drugs or threatening to jump off buildings.
A spokesman for the Qingyang education bureau said on Tuesday that the teacher has since been removed from his post and banned from teaching for life.
Police have detained two onlookers who applauded, while six others suspected of filming and cheering on the incident have been urged to turn themselves in, the city’s public security bureau said on Monday.
Zhang Yangfei contributed to this story.
School teacher accused of molesting loses credentials
Family offered compensation money but refuses, calling it humiliating
A high school teacher who was accused of forcibly kissing a female student before the girl committed suicide last week will have his credentials revoked, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
The girl, identified only as Li, was allegedly attacked by Wu Yonghou two years ago in Qingyang, Gansu province. On June 20, she jumped to her death from the eighth floor of a department store. She was 19 years old.
After an investigation, Wu was banned from teaching for life, a spokesman for the city's education bureau said on Tuesday.
In July, the bureau handed down administrative penalties and removed Wu from his teaching post at Qingyang No 6 High School after Li's father accused him of molesting the girl.
Video of Li's suicide, in which some onlookers could be heard cheering and applauding as she fell, was widely shared on Chinese social media.
Police investigating the tragedy have detained two people for applauding, while six others suspected of filming and cheering during the incident have been urged to turn themselves in, Qingyang's public security bureau said in a statement on Monday.
Videos of the incident shared online showed Li sitting on a ledge for hours while rescue workers tried to talk her out of jumping. Some passers-by on the street below heckled her, shouting, "How come you haven't jumped yet?"
When she jumped, some people clapped while a rescue worker screamed in distress.
Li's father has said his daughter was severely depressed over an assault by Wu in September 2016. Wu had tried to kiss and hug the girl, according to the police statement.
On the day of the alleged assault, Li complained of a stomachache and was told by the school nurse to rest in a dormitory. When Wu came in to check on her, he suddenly began kissing her face, lips and forehead, the statement said.
After the incident, the father said Li attempted suicide four times. She first took drugs in October and December 2016 and then prepared to jump off a building the following May before being saved by a firefighter. In January she tried again by taking large amounts of anti-depression drugs, the statement said.
Li and her father reported the alleged incident to police in February 2017. The police sent Wu to a detention house for 10 days in May for molestation.
Li's father felt the punishment was too lenient and appealed to prosecutors in his district to intervene. After reviewing the case in March, prosecutors decided not to press charges against Wu.
According to a statement from the authorities, Wu denied the allegation and said he had touched the girl's forehead with his mouth in order to "take her temperature".
Li's parents were offered 350,000 yuan ($53,500) in compensation by the school, but the money was declined, the father told Beijing Youth Daily on Monday, because a settlement would have required withdrawing charges against the teacher.
"We could not sign that humiliating agreement," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Ma Jingna and Zhang Yangfei contributed to this story.
Harassment victim's suicide sparks soul-searching
The suicide has sparked online anguish about social decay, particularly because some onlookers egged her on and clapped when she jumped.
Footage of the teenager's suicide was widely shared on WeChat and other social media.
Videos showed Li sitting on a ledge for hours while rescue workers tried to talk her down. Some passersby on the street below heckled her, shouting "How come you haven't jumped yet?"
When she jumped, some people clapped while a rescuer worker screamed out in distress.
Online commentators lamented the callousness of the crowd.
"How cold is society that people will ask her to jump?" one person asked. "The sound of the rescue worker's heart being torn reflects the evil of humanity."
Agencies
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