Chinese legal experts have condemned police in the eastern province of Jiangxi, saying they abused their power by once again sending a blogger – who previously accused an auxiliary officer of sexual assault – to hospital for psychiatric treatment.
Police in Jiangxi’s provincial capital Nanchang said on Sunday they had sent Li Yixue – a twenty-something blogger with more than 800,000 followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok – to hospital for treatment after a Beijing hospital diagnosed her with “obsessive-compulsive disorder” and “personality disorder”.
In April 2022, Li accused a Nanchang auxiliary police officer of sexually assaulting her, but local police said their investigation did not support her claims. They then sent Li to a psychiatric hospital for two months of treatment, citing the possibility that Li might take her own life.
In December 2022, Li sued the hospital after tests conducted at other institutions after her release showed she was mentally healthy, drawing widespread attention on Chinese social media. A court heard the case that month but a verdict has not yet been announced.
Earlier this month, Li posted a plea for help on Douyin, saying that police had broken into her home “with a dozen people” and damaged a camera on her front door.
Nanchang police denied the claim in Sunday’s statement, saying local law enforcement officers and experts from a Beijing hospital had examined Li at her home from late December 13 until early on December 14 and had also spoken to her father.