Footage of a man in China beating his wife to death on the street as horrified onlookers watched without intervening has sparked national outrage.
The assault erupted on Saturday when the couple got into an argument after they accidentally hit a pedestrian while driving an electric scooter in northern China’s Shuozhou city, according to reports.
The alleged attacker has been detained by local police, who confirmed the woman’s death in a statement. An investigation is ongoing.
The violence broke out after the husband hit a pedestrian while carrying his wife on his electric bike on October 31, according to Xi’an Business, a state-owned regional newspaper.
The couple got into a heated argument before the man pushed his partner to the ground and started bashing her.
In the footage filmed by onlookers, the man is seen throwing a wooden stool at his wife and repeatedly beating her with a rock.
Horrified cyclists, motorists and pedestrians, including children, watched the street-side attack without stepping in.
Shuozhou police late confirmed the incident and said in a statement the woman was killed, adding that the attacker had been detained.
‘The suspect is in the custody of public security organs, and the case is being fully investigated,’ the authorities said.
Pictures of the assault first appeared on social media and in domestic news outlets on Sunday and have been shared millions of times.
Media posts about the incident drew tens of thousands of comments, with most criticising the inaction of the bystanders and the lax attitude towards domestic violence in some sectors of Chinese society.
‘He’s not holding a machine gun, why did no one step forward to control him?’ asked one commenter in a widely shared response.
Another viewer condemned: ‘[They] just watched it happened. What a bunch of cold-blooded and selfish people!’
China only introduced a specific law criminalising domestic violence in 2015. Activists say violence within families is often ignored.