On Dec. 8, a young Chinese woman steps out of a black car in China’s central Henan province. Her glassy eyes and the blank, childlike expression on her face tell her mother that something is terribly wrong. This is not the same girl who was taken away in police custody just a few days before.
Videos of the incident have gone viral on Chinese social media. They show Ye Ting, a 22-year-old college student, being dropped off on the night of Dec. 8, in her hometown of Qi County.
In the videos, Ye Ting appears mentally deranged. At one point she slaps herself repeatedly; another video shows her sitting in the middle of the street, first playing with a face mask and then taking off her pants and waving them.
Meanwhile, her mother appeals to onlookers to post eyewitness video on social media, and accuses police of causing psychological damage: “Look at my daughter now! [The police] sent me my daughter who has gone insane!”
Just days before, police from Ye Ting’s hometown appeared on her college campus in Pingdingshan, 130 miles away, and took her back to the police station in Qi County.
Possible Retaliation for Social Media Post
Ye Ting’s family believes she was arrested after posting a video clip on Dec. 6, raising concerns about her father’s beating death, which occurred in June of 2021. In the video clip, Ye Ting’s younger sister alleged that a local Communist Party official took part in the attack, and has not been apprehended.Media pressure can sometimes help victims seek justice in China, though such media reports are rare due to the regime’s censorship.
In the video footage taken on Dec. 8, Ye Ting’s sister gives the timeline of events. A teacher informed her family that Ye Ting had been taken away by several men, however, her family was unable to contact her. Another sister, Ye Shuangling, heard that her sister was at the local police station and went there to look for her. She was not allowed to see Ye Ting. Instead, Ye Shuangling was detained, forced to delete posts related to her sister’s disappearance, and released later that day.
Police contacted Ye Ting’s oldest sister, Ye Lingling, on Dec. 8 to say that her sister would be released in a specified location. Ye Ting was released later that evening by an unmarked car with police sitting inside. The family was told Ye Ting was being released on bail pending 5 years imprisonment.
A Family’s Struggle for Justice
Ye Ting’s arrest can be traced to her family’s struggle to obtain justice for the death of her father, Ye Hongqing. Ye Hongqing, 53, was dining at a local restaurant with several villagers on June 28, 2021, when a quarrel started among the diners and later turned into a physical altercation.Ye Hongqing tried to mediate but they turned on him and began beating him. He then tried to run from the restaurant, but two of the assailants chased him and beat him unconscious. He died in the hospital on July 7, 2021.
The Epoch Times was unable to verify the authenticity of the online death certificate.
The Ye family began to appeal for justice in July last year, claiming that the culprit in the murder had not been punished.
The video that led to Ye Ting’s arrest was made by her younger sister, Ye Bingyan. In the video, Ye Bingyan relates the circumstances of her father’s death and alleges that one of the villagers who attacked her father is a local Chinese Communist Party official, who is not under investigation and is still at large.
Widespread Attention Despite Censorship
The crime and Ye Ting’s subsequent arrest attracted widespread attention on social media, despite attempts to censor it. Among other sources, Chinese human rights watchdog Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch reported on the case.“The police from the Qi County Public Security Bureau brought her back [to the police station] for investigation according to law after showing their IDs in the presence of her boyfriend,” the announcement says.
The announcement did not say if the police had a warrant for the arrest or if her family was notified.
In her handwritten statement posted online on Dec. 9, Ye Ting’s eldest sister Ye Lingling questioned the legality of Ye Ting’s detention and release on bail.
“We don’t know who has paid for Ye Ting’s bail, and we haven’t received any notification or legal documents,” Ye Lingling wrote in her statement.
Ye Lingling was contacted by a police official surnamed Li, who arranged the dropoff. Lingling asked Li what crime Ye Ting has committed and asked Li for legal documents regarding Ye Ting’s arrest and release on bail, but Li refused to reply, according to the post.
In one of the viral videos, Ye Ting is seen kneeling near the black car in which two police officers sit. Crying and slapping her face, she cries, “They beat me! They snatched my phone and removed my sim card! I haven’t done anything wrong!”
The Epoch Times wasn’t able to verify the authenticity of the video clips.
The Epoch Times attempted to contact Ye Ting but could not reach her.
Multiple calls to the Qi County Public Security Bureau and to Chief Li’s mobile phone were not answered.
