Man draws locals' ire for ignoring suicide attempt
A man who declined to rescue his wife after she jumped into a river in an apparent suicide attempt aroused the displeasure of many passers-by in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.
People who witnessed the incident heaped abuse on the man, surnamed Liu, and some even boxed his ears, according to the Kunming-based Metropolitan Times.
A young man eventually jumped into the river and saved the woman, surnamed Li. An ambulance later transported Li to the People's Liberation Army Kunming General Hospital, where she received emergency treatment.
The incident took place at about 2 pm on May 9. The couple was dropping their five-year-old daughter off at her school near the bank of the Daguan River.
A quarrel erupted after the girl entered the school, and the woman jumped into the river to attempt suicide.
Both Liu and Li are in their 30s.
Pedestrians urged Liu to rescue his wife, but he brushed them off, saying: "It is not my business."
A witness surnamed Yang said Liu was neither a real man nor a husband because he refused to rescue his wife.
Yang said he heard Liu repeatedly ask his wife to jump into the river before she did so.
Liu even stood on the bank watching his wife struggling in the river, observers said.
A 70-year-old man surnamed Luo also said he asked Liu to rescue his wife after she jumped into the river, but Liu refused.
Liu showed no signs of repentance when Li was sent to hospital for treatment. He even refused to sign for his wife's emergency treatment.
Liu's sister's husband, who accompanied Liu to the hospital, handled all the paperwork.
Doctors said Li stopped breathing for a brief period and became faint. Her heartbeat, breathing and blood pressure eventually recovered after she received treatment. Li remains in hospitable under observation.
Liu, a businessman from East China's Zhejiang Province, married Li, a local resident, five years ago.
Locals said the couple frequently quarrelled because of trivial family matters. Liu often beat Li at home, they said.
China Daily
(China Daily 05/23/2007 page6)
