Recently, a woman named Zhang from Shanghai posted a video to report a case of sexual harassment by the 73-year-old chairman of a textile company in Shanghai. However, when Zhang reported the incident to the police, they did not detain the chairman based on his age over 70.
On February 10th, 26-year-old Zhang from Shanghai filed a complaint with her real name, accusing the chairman of a textile company in Shanghai of sexual harassment.
She stated that on January 21st, she went for an interview at the company, and the chairman asked her to massage and treat his back pain in a private bedroom at the office under the pretext of examining her therapeutic skills. During this time, he sexually harassed her multiple times, and the entire process lasted for 2 hours.
According to Zhang, the chairman also invited her to be his goddaughter and private therapist, claiming to be a visiting professor at Donghua University and suggesting that she should consider studying at the university. After the incident, she experienced symptoms like dry heaving and trembling at home. The next day, she went to the police station to report the incident and also informed the recruiting platform.
On January 25th, the police investigated the chairman, and on the 26th, Zhang received the punishment decision for the chairman. The decision stated that the police confirmed the chairman’s actions of sexual harassment and decided to give him a 5-day administrative detention (not executed) punishment, but because “Mr. Zhu is over seventy years old, the administrative detention was not enforced.”
Zhang expressed her disappointment as the chairman did not face any real consequences, and she not only did not receive any compensation but also did not receive an apology. “Now I wash my hands frantically every day, probably more than 20 times a day. The doctor suggested it is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, but it has not been confirmed yet.”
Zhang’s video report lasts for 13 minutes, including a lot of recorded audio. According to Zhang, she records every interview and has complete recordings regarding the interviews.
After the incident was exposed, Zhang has been unable to be alone. She has been trying to continue job hunting, but whenever the interviewer speaks, she becomes anxious, nervous, and starts shaking, making it difficult for her to perform, and thus, she has not been able to find a suitable job until now. She hopes to find a lawyer who can help her file a lawsuit.
The incident made it to the top trending topics on Weibo on February 14th. Many netizens expressed their discontent, questioning, “Can a person evade legal sanctions just because they are over seventy years old?” “Since when has age become a shield to escape the law?” “Does turning 70 come with a ‘get out of jail free’ card?” “For those who understand, you’ve gone too far.” “So, there’s an age limit in law. Does that mean people over 70 are invincible?”