The man in a white shirt yelling at the scene. (Video Image)
After escaping the attack, the girl approached the man with her parents soon after. He was said to yell in response: “I work in the Ministry of Transportation and am ranked the same as your mayor. … [Are you going to] try to fight me?”
The scene was recorded by a surveillance camera in the restaurant, and the footage uploaded to the Internet. Chinese netizens subsequently scoured Web sites and discovered the identity of the attacker.
According to a Guangdong News report on Oct. 31, the girl’s family went to a seafood restaurant in a technology park in Nanshan District at 8 p.m. on Oct. 29. At about 8:40 p.m., an 11-year-old girl from the family exited the dinning room, intending to go to the restroom on the other side of the restaurant.
A tall man in his fifties stopped her and asked her where the restroom was. She pointed to it, but the man claimed he still wasn’t clear, so she agreed to lead him.
The restaurant’s surveillance camera shows the young girl leading the man across the dining hall and pointing, while Lin, wearing white shirt and black pants, follows her. In less than a minute, she is seen running back to her family. Her father, his wife, the girl, and her brother then come out looking for Lin. The video goes on to show Lin arguing with the family. .
Click here to see the video clip from the restaurant's surveillance camera.
According to Chen, the father of the family, his daughter ran into the room crying, saying a man in his fifties tried to take advantage of her. She alleged that after leading the man to the restroom, he, standing at 6-feett tall, suddenly grabbed her tightly by her neck and tried to drag her into the bathroom with him. She said she was unable to make any sound or cry for help, but managed to struggle free and run back to the family.
Chen, the father, said he was shocked to learn that a man would try to molest a young girl in a public place. They confronted him on his way back from the restroom.
Facing accusation, the man yelled, “So what if I did it? How much do you want? I will pay. Do you know who I am? I work in the Ministry of Transportation in Beijing and my ranking is the same as your mayor. So I grabbed the child’s neck. Who are you? Trying to fight me? Wait and see what’s going to happen to you.”
Chen called the police, and both sides were taken to the police station for questioning. Chen said after he called the police, more and more people gathered at the scene and the man fought with the security and restaurant staff several times until the police arrived.
According to a waiter in the restaurant, the man called for another man to drive his Audi away as he got in the police car.
Police in Nanshan District told the reporter that the camera did not show the man choking and dragging the girl into the restroom. The police also said that the man claimed he did not remember anything because he was drunk. Since there were no witnesses, police said there was no direct evidence confirming that the man actually attacked the girl.
After the incident the young girl was said to have refused to go to school because she was too scared.
According to Oeeee.com, after the police took Lin to the station that night, a man from Shenzhen bailed him out, saying he had to go to Shanghai for a meeting. The police are now urging Lin to come back to Shenzhen to for further investigation.
Chinese bloggers reacted to the incident with rage. According to chinasmack.com, one blogger described Lin as ‘human scum,’ while others called for him to be punished with death. “Dirty devil + corruption is the essence of many officials,” one blogger remarked.
