Deng Yujiao, a waitress in Hubei Province stabbed an official to death and injured another in resisting their sexual advances. Comments on the internet showed no sympathy with the dead official and generally support the 21-year-old girl, acclaiming that she is another Yang Jia who acted in response to an injustice.
The dead man, Deng Guida, is the chief of county investment promotion office. He came with his two colleagues to the entertainment venue Dream City for a massage, and met the waitress there. They asked for ‘special service’, meaning sex service in China, but were refused.
It is alleged that Deng Guida took from his pocket a wad of money and hit the waitress on the head with it. Humiliated by the action, Deng tried to leave the room but the victim twice pushed her onto a sofa as she attempted to do so. The waitress found a knife, stabbing at the victim’s throat, killing him and also injuring one of his colleagues.
The waitress later called police and surrendered.
The news immediately triggered a public discussion after it was revealed. At first it was about whether the girl’s action should be regarded as self-defense. Though legal experts agreed she is likely to be charged, some in Xing-Dao Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper, argued,
The official had requested Deng to offer ‘special service’, but was refused! He violently pushed Deng onto the sofa twice, an action that could well be seen as an attempted rape. The infringement on Deng’s rights was an ongoing one and may well have severely injured Deng. Therefore her stabbing was an act of self-defense and given the emergency….she should face no criminal charge!
Many netiznes spoke highly of Deng. Yi Li in Tianya commented on the news, saying,
Deng Yujiao, you are good. I admire and support you, and will learn from you. Best regards
Moreover, her story was written into a short chronicle in traditional Chinese that was usually used by ancient historians to memorize a heroic example. For those who knows Chinese, the text is here:
Virginity is very important in China, and there are numerous stories on how women defended their honor. The sentiment of admiring a girl for defending her virginity, is here combined with a hatred against corrupt officials in the case.
How come that these officials have so much money? During the dispute the victim hit the girl on the head with a wad of money. How could a public servant on a salary have so much to spare without any thought or scruple? Was it public funds or embezzled money perhaps?
How could they visit entertainment venues so frequently and are obsessed with ‘special service’ so much?
Bloggers, netizens and intellectuals are taking action to support Deng Yujiao. A public letter calling for people to send their words of comfort to Deng, who is now imprisoned, appeared on the internet saying Deng is a heroine. Many still worry though that the police may manipulate the evidence to help the court rule against Deng.
In a preliminary assessment, Deng was identified as having a mental condition. Also, the police allege that the weapon Deng used was actually a fruit knife rather than the nail clipper that Deng used in her job of clipping nails for customers. On this point, blogger Zhou Zhongming wrote an article:
First, the police don’t mention the wad of money at all!
Second, they allege the weapon was a fruit knife, not a nail clipper! This is no small difference because if it is a nail clipper, it shows that the girl was defending herself in a panic with a tool right at hand. If it is a fruit knife however, it implies that the girl took the knife from somewhere else and killed the official on purpose rather than in simple self-defense
Further, they allege that medications for a mental condition were found in the girl’s bag. How vicious a trick to protect the officials’ reputation! They can even put the girl into a mental asylum. Everyone knows it is far worse to be in a State madhouse than being given a death sentence.
The blogger gave a possible scenario of the police conclusions: that the girl, because of her mental condition and persecution paranoia, stabbed the two officials with a purposely prepared knife.
Could such a speculation be true? Netizens are waiting for a final answer from the police.
This article was originally published on globalvoicesonline.org