In 2006, an elderly man in Nanjing fell while rushing for a bus. A young man passing by helped the elderly man and took him to the hospital. However, after the incident, the young man was instead sued by the elderly man. The court ruled that it was more likely that the young man had collided with the elderly man, and therefore the young man should compensate for 40% of the elderly man's medical expenses. For a time, many similar examples made many people fear "helping up elderly people who have fallen." Yesterday morning, such disputes happened again at Nanjing Railway Station. The difference is that the main party involved was not an elderly person, but a pregnant woman. Fortunately, the police cleared the name of the kind-hearted citizen through surveillance video.
At around 10:00 am yesterday, Mr. Zheng, a citizen, arrived at Nanjing Railway Station, preparing to go to Shanghai. He got off the No. 33 bus and rushed towards the waiting hall of the railway station when there was a "thud" sound as a woman was knocked down by a running boy. At first, Mr. Zheng did not pay attention and walked four or five steps forward, then suddenly realized that the woman who fell on the ground was a pregnant woman. The pregnant woman lay slanted on the ground, holding her belly, with a very painful expression on her face. "Young lady, are you okay? Is everything alright? Do we need to call 120...?" Mr. Zheng asked concernedly.
At this moment, without even looking, the pregnant woman questioned Mr. Zheng, "Are you blind?" Then she tried to support herself on one hand to get up but found it difficult. Seeing this, Mr. Zheng quickly helped the pregnant woman up from the ground. There were other passengers on the square who gathered around upon seeing what had happened. Just as Mr. Zheng was about to leave, the pregnant woman suddenly grabbed his sleeve and shouted loudly, "It was you who knocked me down! Don't walk away!"
As they were arguing, another woman also chimed in saying, "I saw it, it was you who knocked her down!" This woman emphasized that she was "unacquainted" with the pregnant woman who fell. Soon after, the pregnant woman called her husband.
Upon arriving, the husband grabbed Mr. Zheng and swung a punch, asking, "If it wasn't you who knocked her down, why would you kindly help her up? There are so many people coming and going on the square, and only you are playing Lei Feng?" The pregnant woman's husband's question left Mr. Zheng speechless. The previously "unacquainted" woman also claimed that it was Mr. Zheng who had knocked her down. Seeing there was a "witness," the pregnant woman and her husband became more convinced that it was Mr. Zheng's responsibility, continued纠缠 (to pester), and demanded 2000 yuan as compensation. With no choice, Mr. Zheng had to report the incident to the police.
"I am quite familiar with this elder sister; she wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for others." When the station police arrived at the scene, the woman who originally claimed to be unacquainted with the pregnant woman suddenly changed her statement. Mr. Zheng immediately countered, saying, "You just said you didn't know her, now you say you do." At this moment, a man surnamed Wang, who was there to check in luggage, described to the officer: "At that time, I happened to pass by. The pregnant woman fell right next to me, less than two meters away. I wanted to help her up, but the older brother standing closer to her already did, so I left. She was actually bumped by a boy who passed by earlier, which caused her to lose balance and fall." Seeing Mr. Wang come as a witness, the pregnant woman and her husband refused to agree, claiming that Mr. Wang was with Mr. Zheng.
The conflicting statements confused the police for a while. The police reviewed the event process from the square surveillance footage, which indeed matched what Mr. Zheng had said. Subsequently, the pregnant woman and her husband apologized to Mr. Zheng, but he refused their apology.
[Source: Xinhua Daily News Network - Nanjing Morning Post]