Outrage as Chinese woman tells of police, hotel staff’s inaction after dramatic near-abduction in Beijing hotel
According to Wanwan, hotel employee watched on as she was attacked outside her room and police said matter wasn’t under their purview
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 06 April, 2016, 1:04pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 06 April, 2016, 1:32pm
Nectar Gan
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The alarming account of a woman who says she was brushed off by police and hotel staff after she was nearly abducted in a business hotel in Beijing has triggered outrage among Chinese internet users.
The young woman, who recounted the incident on weibo under the alias Wanwan, said she was attacked by a man along the corridor of a branch of the Yitel hotel chain in Beijing on Sunday.
She had been making her way to her room, she said.
According to Wanwan, a hotel employee who witnessed the attack – which was also captured on surveillance camera – stood there watching the incident play out but did not help her fend off the attacker.
She said the attacker set himself upon her after tailing her into the hotel, following her into the elevator and along the corridor before taking action as she fumbled in her handbag for the room key.
Surveillance footage showed the man trying to drag the woman away and pulling at her hair.
Wanwan said a hotel employee came upon hearing her screams, but thought they were a couple having a tiff and merely instructed them not to fight there.
He made no effort to stop the man from attacking her even after she repeatedly begged him for help, insisting that she did not know the man, according to Wanwan.
Several hotel guests also walked by during the attack, which went on for about five minutes, but no one stopped to help.
Wanwan tried to run to the elevator but was overpowered by the attacker.
She was eventually rescued by another woman hotel guest, who grabbed her by the arm and stopped her from being forcefully pushed into a dark stretch of the corridor.
According to Wanwan, the hotel manager appeared only after the attacker had left. The manager could no longer be reached by phone the next day, she said.
Police came and checked the surveillance footage, taking Wanwan’s and other witnesses’ statements.
But when she contacted the local police station to follow up on the case later, she was told investigators were away and would return only on Thursday, Wanwan said.
She then called 110 several times but was told that the issue was not “under their purview”.
Wanwan’s account of the harrowing incident, which was posted on weibo on Tuesday morning, had drawn more than 630 million views and over a million comments by Wednesday.
A branch of the Yitel Hotel chain in Beijing, whose parent company is Home Inns Group. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Home Inns Group, parent company of the mid-to-high-end Yitel hotel chain, issued a statement early on Wednesday morning, saying that the incident had been brought to the group’s “high attention”.
The group had tried to contact the woman after learning about the incident, it said, expressing “regret” and adding that it was cooperating with police investigations into the matter.
Wanwan said the hotel did call her hours before issuing the statement, but offered no apology or explanation apart from trying to bribe her into deleting her posts on social media.
Beijing police said on its weibo account on Wednesday morning that it was conducting a “thorough investigation” into Wanwan’s complaint.
Thousands of weibo users expressed outrage in their comments, lambasting the hotel and police for their initial response.
Many added that they would boycott hotels under the group.
