A desperate call for help

AMID tension and worry over Covid-19 virus in the last few months, two high-profile sexual assault cases became the talk of the local community.

One of the incidents involved a senior executive of two corporations and another suspect is a district official from Hunan province.

The recent revelation by a young woman who accused her adoptive father, a man who enjoys high social standing, shocked the society as she alleged the abuse started in 2015 when she was just 14 years old.

Xingxing (not her real name) has been seeking help to escape from her ordeal, including lodging two police reports, but to no avail.

The police explained that they “did not think the evidence was enough to prove her adoptive father, surnamed Bao, committed a crime”.

The lame excuse cited by the police drove the young woman into despair as she was unable to get help from the authorities.

Bao, 48, was the vice-president (legal affairs) of Yantai-based Jereh Oilfield Services Group and an independent non-executive director of ZTE Corporation.

He has been sacked by Jereh and resigned from ZTE after the sexual assault allegation was exposed.

Xingxing’s ordeal started when her mother was introduced to Bao through a middle person on the Internet.

Bao, whose marital status is unknown, wanted to adopt a child, and her mother believed that Xingxing would lead a better life in a financially stable family.

After the informal adoption, Xingxing left for Beijing to live with Bao.

Her nightmare began when Bao forced himself on her three months later, just after celebrating her 14th birthday.

In early 2016, she consulted an online doctor for bleeding and pain in her private part.

After rounds of questioning, the doctor suspected Xingxing was raped and advised her to lodge a police report.

She did but the police did not act on her case.

A few months later, she followed her adoptive father to Yantai city in Shandong province, where the latter started work in his new position.

Over the years, Xingxing was forced to have sex with Bao, whom she claimed also showed her pornographic materials while threatening to kill her mother if she exposed him.

She decided she has had enough in April last year after Bao raped her when she was down with fever.

She lodged a police report but the result was no different from the previous one.

In response to this, Yantai Public Security Bureau’s branch in Zhifu said they received a woman’s report on April 8, 2019, in which, she claimed she had been sexually abused several times by Bao over the past three years.

“But after the investigation, we didn’t think the evidence was enough to prove Bao committed a crime, so we withdrew the case on April 26,” it said in a statement last Thursday.

The branch said they reopened the case on Oct 9 last year after the woman and her lawyer provided new clues, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.

After the alleged rape attracted wide public attention, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Public Security Ministry sent a joint team to supervise the investigation, reported China Daily.

Legal experts believed this is a “difficult case” due to Bao’s background, saying that the senior lawyer knew very clearly how he could escape the law.

“Bao has been trying to convince people that he and Xingxing were lovers while denying the adoption process,” a lawyer told the media.

Under China’s law, 14 is the consent age for minors.

In this case, Bao might not be convicted for statutory rape but in the eyes of the public, he is still being accused of child sex abuse.

I think 14 is too young for one to understand sex although some people are of the opinion that is not the case anymore – the young ones mature much earlier.

Many Chinese netizens shared the same view and have been calling for the authorities to raise the legal age to give consent to sex to 18.

This is not the first time such calls are made in China.

“Teenagers below 18 lacked understanding of sex and how to protect themselves. They have to face huge consequences if the girls are pregnant by accident or contract sexually transmitted disease,” said Master Chan.

Another netizen said young girls were unable to differentiate between good and bad friends, and were easily swayed by sweet talks.

Meanwhile, in Chenzhou city, Hunan province, a district leader of China’s Communist Youth League has been arrested after being alleged for sexual assault.

The man, surnamed Chu, was accused of attacking a female entrepreneur during a dinner gathering at a restaurant recently.

The victim claimed that she was taken to an adjacent room by Chu, who forced her on the sofa and tried to rape her.

She said her shouts for help was heard by a friend who came to her rescue. Chu later sent her an apology note.

Chu, 33, who holds a Master’s degree in law, denied the allegation, saying with his legal knowledge, he would not have left behind the note as evidence if he has committed any wrongdoings.