Man who violently attacked woman faces violence, sexual assault charges

The man who violently attacked a woman on a street in Dalian, Liaoning province, on Saturday has been placed under criminal detention for violence and sexual assault, local police said in the early hours of Thursday.

A CCTV footage showing the man punching and kicking a woman for 68 seconds on a street in the early hours of Saturday began to circulate Monday evening on social media, and soon turned into a hot issue on the internet.

In the footage, a woman, Wu, is seen walking alone while looking at her cellphone. Suddenly, a man walks over to her and starts punching her in the face with his fists. He then kicks her in the head and abdomen after she falls on the ground. The man also tries to pull down her skirt. At last, the man drags her out of the monitoring range of the surveillance camera.

More details of the case were unveiled in a statement released by Dalian police around 1 am on Thursday. Wu and her friend surnamed Yu were walking home together after having a drink. They said goodbye to each other near the community where Wu lives. As the 29-year-old continued to walk home, she was attacked by the man. After she became unconscious, the man dragged her into the hallway of an apartment building and sexually assaulted her. The man then fled on a taxi, the police said.

Yu tried to contact Wu after returning home but received no reply so became worried. She decided to go to Wu's place and check on her. On her way, Yu saw Wu who had just gained consciousness. Wu then used Yu's phone to call the police at 1:35 am.

After receiving the call, a police officer and two assistance officers arrived at the scene at 1:39 am. The police asked Wu to go to the hospital after taking pictures and videos of her injures. Yu then accompanied Wu to the hospital where she was treated for facial soft tissue injuries. She was later sent home.

At 11 am, Wu went to the Donghualu street police station to file a statement. The police then launched the investigation and located the suspect surnamed Wang around 9 pm on Tuesday. Wang was arrested about an hour later.

Wang, 31, from Dalian said Wang had emotional disputes with his girlfriend and was drunk. He took a taxi to go to his girlfriend's place and she broke up with him over the phone. Wang became furious and got off the taxi. He then met Wu and carried out the attack.

On Tuesday morning, the public order bureau of the Ministry of Public Security asked the public to provide leads on the incident, as there were no clear signs or landmarks to indicate where the attack took place. Also, the source of the footage was unclear, the bureau said in its Weibo post.

The bureau added another post around noon on Tuesday again, asking people to provide information about the footage. It also asked the man to turn himself in.

Many people started to share in the comments their analysis of the footage based on the accent of the woman, the manufacture of the surveillance system and the environment of the scene.

Dalian police said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the incident took place in the city.