Video of chained mother-of-eight found in hut causes outrage in China

‘Do you even treat this woman as a human being?’: social media users react to video footage of Xuzhou mother

A video of a Chinese mother-of-eight locked in a village hut with a chain around her neck has sent shockwaves across China’s social media.

The video on Douyin, a social network that owns TikTok, was filmed by a man who was visiting the woman and asking her about her living conditions.

The video blogger uses his social media account to document the stories and circumstances of disadvantaged people.

In the footage, published on Friday, the woman’s children told the vlogger that they bring their mother food every day.

The video then shows the mother huddled in the corner of a run-down doorless shed, with an iron chain around her neck. She was wearing no coat despite the cold winter conditions.

After the vlogger gets a jacket for her, a man turns to the camera and reportedly said: “What this woman is put through in this cold... where did the compassion go?”

The video has gone viral with Chinese citizens demanding that authorities help the woman.

Many have questioned the circumstances under which the woman in Xuzhou, in the eastern Jiangsu province, gave birth to her eight children.

One social media user reacted to the video, saying: “Do you even treat this woman as a human being?”.

Another said: “This woman needs to be treated at a hospital instead of being imprisoned in her own home while having children.”

Local authorities responded to the footage and identified the woman by her last name Yang, from Feng County Huankou Township.

They said that she had been diagnosed with a mental health illness and that she married her husband, identified as Mr Dong, in 1998.

The BBC reported that his family have told the authorities that Ms Yang often had violent outbursts.

In a second statement from authorities on Sunday, officials said that they were now investigating the woman’s husband.

“Dong is suspected of violating the law. The public security authorities have launched an investigation into it,” the statement said, according to local media reports.

Authorities confirmed that Ms Yang was not a victim of human trafficking, according to news website What’s On Weibo.