A primary school head teacher in central China has been detained on suspicion of child molestation, after multiple women reported him to the police.
Police in Gongan county, Hubei province, said late on Saturday (Aug 21) that a 67-year-old man, identified only by his surname Liang, had been detained and that the case would be investigated further. Those found guilty of child molestation can face up to 15 years in prison.
The case was brought to light when a former pupil at the school shared her account of being molested by the teacher more than a decade ago. In her initial post last Sunday, she accused Liang of multiple instances of molestation over a period of three to four years, including when she and other students had been staying at his house. “This incident has been with me for more than 10 years now, and every time I see news of this nature or think about what happened, my heart will tighten and I will feel extremely uncomfortable,” she wrote. “Every time I talk about this, there is not a single time that I will not cry. I am crying even as I am writing this.”
The woman, who said she had suicidal thoughts in her childhood in part as a result of the incidents, said police had told her to try finding other accusers. At least four others and one witness later came forward. “Every time I find a new victim, it really cuts my heart like a knife and hurts to death,” she wrote. “I hope to find more victims but at the same time also hope I cannot find them, and that there will not be any more victims.”
She added that she hoped the education bureau would more strictly manage its teachers, and that children be taught sex education at an earlier date. The hashtag for her post attracted more than 340 million views on Weibo. On Tuesday, the Gongan county education bureau released a statement saying it had set up a working group to investigate the case, and that it had a zero-tolerance policy towards illegal conduct.
Researchers in China have said that around eight to 12 per cent of the country’s 270 million minors have faced some form of sexual assault, but that few cases end up in court. Chinese courts heard 11,519 cases involving child molestation allegations between 2015 and 2018, according to Sun Xuemei, co-founder of girls welfare group the Beijing All In One Foundation.
There was an outpouring of online support for the former pupil, with commenters on Weibo calling for justice. “Little girls are not forever little girls – they will grow up to become strong women who will come back to crush those sinners in this world,” one said. If you are having suicidal thoughts, or you know someone who is, help is available.
