Man Who Saved Woman From Rape Accused of Being a Peeping Tom

From Nanfang Daily, Sina:

Woman renting out home is robbed and sexually assaulted, rescuer suspected of being a Peeping Tom

November 3rd, living on the top floor of a residential apartment building of a residential community on Yayi Street in Guangzhou’s Tianhe District, Zeng Li made posted on the internet an advertisement to sublet her apartment, never thinking the prospective tenant would be a robber, who after hurting her and robbing her money would also try to rape her.

As luck would have it, the window the robber closed attracted the attention of neighboring Xiao Huang and afterwards the Tianhe Police appeared on the scene to arrest the robber.

Rescue

Neighbor climbed onto the roof and discovered the situation through an air vent

Witness Xiao Huang lives on the other side of the building #9. Xiao Huang said that around 8pm on that night, he went to look after the pigeons on the roof, but as he was on the stairs discovered that the open window of the apartment for rent where the incident occurred near the passageway was unexpectedly closed, “Normally it is always open, so this made me suspicious.”

Xiao Huang says he also heard the noise of things being overturned, so he decided to go see what was going on. He climbed over the 1.5 meter high wall in the middle of the passageway, climbed the stairs, and arrived at the roof garden. The light in the apartment where the incident occurred was on, and through the gap in the ventilation fan blades in the vent, Xiao Huang saw the situation in the apartment.

“She was tied to the bed, and there was blood all over the floor,” Xiao Huang said. He was startled, and did not call the police immediately but rather found Xiao Chen, another resident that lived on the other side of building #9.

Xiao Huang said that after urging Xiao Chen to call the police, he went downstairs to notify the residential community’s security. In order to prevent the man in black [the robber] from getting away, 3 security guards were placed at building #9. The police then arrived at the scene.

Suspicions

Rescuer suspected of being a Peeping Tom

After word of Xiao Huang reporting the robber to police spread, many netizens felt the matter of Xiao Huang calling the police being somewhat strange: First, why didn’t Xiao Huang immediately call the police when he discovered what was happening, but instead had someone else call the police; Second, why was he so sensitive to whether or not Zeng Li’s apartment window was open or closed, even climbing over a 1.5 meter tall wall to then climb up to the building roof to see the incident through an air vent? Was this a result of long-term habitual peeping?

According to a female in the residential community who isn’t willing to give her name but is familiar with the incident, she too is a resident of that building, as well as an employee of a nearby gym/health club. Several months ago, when Zeng Li went to the gym to apply for a membership card, the two of them met and got to know each other. Because they lived close to each other, Zeng Li also often goes over to her place to visit.

This female familiar with the incident told this reporter that Zeng Li told her not just once that she had been spied on by a male while bathing at night. Zeng Li also told this reporter that this person familiar with the incident has said before that she’s seen Xiao Huang at the air vent peeping on Zeng Li’s room. However, she says she can’t actually be sure Xiao Huang is the Peeping Tom.

With regards to being suspected of being a Peeping Tom, Xiao Huang denies it, even saying that being wrongly accused of being a Peeping Tom “is very hurtful”. As to to why he coincidentally encountered this case, he says it is in fact because his own work requires him to pay attention to details.

Comments from Tiexue:

紫翼之痕:

People just love to think of the worst, never thinking about the good, always suspecting others of the worst evil intentions. Even if Xiao Huang was peeping, he still saved a person…

子曰过的论语:

To have saved someone and still have to bear this kind of reputation, today’s society truly has problems.

zhou6811:

According to how Xiao Huang himself described what happened, him denying peeping is simply inconsistent, so there being peeping we can be certain of. However, a bad thing became a good thing, and he even saved someone, so the good outweigh the bad!

中国开扩团:

I cry injustice on behalf of Xiao Huang. In the future when I see this kind of thing, I’m definitely not going to call the police, lest I be condemned as a Peeping Tom!

水城天狼:

It isn’t just society’s problem, it’s a problem with how people think. Shit…

随便酒吧:

With this as a warning, young women living alone, you must remember to leave a gap/hole/crack in your residence, to make it more convenient for those peeping on you. Focus on accumulating them [Peeping Toms], because at a key moment, they could save your life.

duci9999:

To those people accusing him of being a Peeping Tom, I want to say something here: Just because you have darkness in your minds doesn’t mean others are like you.

江湖人称强哥:

Seriously support!!! May I ask who dares to tap their chest and say they haven’t furtively taken an extra look when they see a pretty girl???? When you see a young girl wearing shorts on the street, you’ve never looked at their thighs? Peeping is not some huge immoral thing! And don’t drag morality or whatever into this, this is just human nature!

yingean:

I think if I were to see a similar situation, simply making an anonymous call to the police to report it would be enough to satisfy my conscience. Seeing and not helping is of course wrong, but I’m not willing to get myself in trouble.

baikongyi:

You little lady, someone saves your life and you accuse them of peeping on you? What kind of thinking and logic is that? With this kind of thing, couldn’t you have just pretend it never happened? I can imagine if Xiao Huang had known you would say he was a Peeping Tom and then didn’t rescue you, you would now be peeping with God.

pjy88760:

That Xiao Huang saved the woman is the most important, worth promoting and commending! Being suspected of being a Peeping Tom shouldn’t have happened, after all peeping itself isn’t criminal behavior, at most being a kind of immoral behavior, and not something that causes physical harm to the woman. Today’s society has a high degree of openness. Female stars/celebrities wear see-through clothing or intentionally or unintentionally expose themselves, and even become famous once they take off their clothes, so why even bother wasting our time with an ordinary Peeping Tom’s behavior and motivations?

oldwell:

Society has problems, [people] are too impulsive, everyone we meet is a bad guy, everything we see is suspicious! I still believe there are more good people [than bad].

What do you think?