 |
| Photo Credit: AP. |
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A court in northern China sentenced one man to 24 years in jail Friday for his role in a vicious attack on four women, as well as other crimes including robbery and opening an illegal gambling ring.
The
Guangyang Disrict People’s Court in northern Hebei province announced in a
statement that the man, Chen Jizhi, was a ringleader of a criminal gang and had
conducted criminal activities for years.
The court
also sentenced 27 others. The charges against them include opening casinos,
robbery, assisting in cybercrime activities, picking quarrels and provoking
trouble and sentences range from 6 months to 11 years.
Authorities
had started the investigation into Chen after a video came to light in early
June in which he and some other men started beating up four women at a barbecue
restaurant in Tangshan, a city in Hebei. The men spared no force, using glass
bottles and their fists to attack the women and even throwing a chair.
Chen had
started the assault on a woman after she rejected his advances and pushed away
his hand. He then put his hands on her, and dragged her out of her chair. He
was joined quickly by members of his crew as the woman’s friends tried to stop
his attack. The incident was caught on video from surveillance cameras in the
restaurant.
The graphic
videos set off public anger and despair as many women raised concerns for their
personal safety.
It also
recalled the public sense of despair over violence against women that went
unpunished, such as a case earlier in the year where a video circulated of a
woman chained to the wall in a home in the country side. Authorities later
found in an investigation that the woman had been trafficked and sold as a
bride.
Initially,
police arrested nine people, seven men and two women, for the attack on the
four women. Two of the women had to be hospitalized for their injuries.
The
investigation over the public assault has evolved into a larger investigation
over criminal activities and corruption. Prosecutors later said they were
charging 27 other people for crimes uncovered during the investigation.
In August,
Communist Party authorities from the Hebei Provincial Commission for Discipline
Inspection said they were investigating 15 officials over corruption that
involved “evil organizations,” including those associated with the attackers.
The 15,
including the director of Tangshan’s public security bureau and officers from
several police stations, are suspected of abuse of power, bribery and other
job-related crimes. Eight of them have been detained during the investigation.