In a rental house in Xixiang Subdistrict of Bao'an District, Shenzhen, a frail woman lay on the bed, her face pale and trembling. She stared blankly at the ceiling while a large pool of blood stained the floor beneath the bed. Suddenly, she sat up, flailing her arms and wailing uncontrollably. Whenever strangers approached, she would cry out to heaven and bash her head against the wall with great force, seemingly feeling no pain.
Wang Juan (a pseudonym), 29 years old, was nearly mentally unstable. For half a month, she neither ate nor drank and attempted wrist-cutting suicide several times. On the evening of October 23, Yang Xili, a security guard armed with a steel pipe and truncheon, broke into her home, smashing everything before brutally beating and raping her for an hour.
Her husband, Yang Wu (also a pseudonym), hid just a few meters away, not daring to make a sound as he helplessly watched his wife suffer this misfortune. An hour later, he quietly called the police.
The impoverished family met with a sudden calamity.
He hid in the storeroom, too afraid to say a word.
Yang Wu is 31 years old, from Funan, Anhui Province. After dropping out of school at the age of 14 following the death of his father, he has been working and wandering outside ever since. Ten years ago, he came to Xixiang Subdistrict in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, rented the first floor of a farmer's house, and opened a small electrical repair shop.
After going through a failed marriage and bringing along two daughters from his previous wife, Yang Wu married Wang Juan, a fellow townsman introduced by acquaintances. The couple had deep feelings for each other and soon added another son and daughter to their family.
Yang Wu said that he only earned more than 1000 yuan per month, leading a very frugal life, often bullied by others, but dared not cause trouble and so endured silently, barely surviving.
However, an unexpected disaster shattered everything fragile.
Yang Wu recalled that at around 8 pm on October 23, Yang Xili, reeking of alcohol, holding a steel pipe and truncheon, stormed into his house with two burly men, shouting: "I'm going to kill you!" Yang Wu said that Yang Xili was a security guard who patrolled the community daily, maintaining public order and assisting the police in their work. "He has a violent temper, often beating people and smashing cars, and no one dares to cross him."
At the time of the incident, Yang Wu had just finished bathing. Wang Juan had also finished washing up, put on her pajamas, and was busy doing housework. Fearing being beaten, Yang Wu immediately hid in the storeroom and didn't dare to make a sound as the furniture and clutter outside were smashed by Yang Xili with the steel pipe.
When Wang Juan tried to stop him, she was also brutally beaten. Yang Xili grabbed her hair and slammed her head onto the table. The more she struggled and resisted, the more violently Yang Xili beat her. "You can call the police all you want, I'm a security guard, and I'm buddies with the cops!"
Yang Wu's 76-year-old mother said that Yang Xili also insulted her and used the steel pipe to drive her and Yang Wu's 13-year-old eldest daughter far away from the room. Yang Wu hid nearby, watching everything helplessly, not daring to breathe loudly.
He heard his wife being raped
He heard the bed moving and moaning coming from the next room
Yang Wu said that Yang Xili had frequently bullied them in the past, but the couple, timid and fearful of trouble, could only endure silently without seeking police assistance. Yang Wu once thought that this time would be like before, getting beaten up and having some things smashed, then waiting for Yang Xili to vent his anger and leave. But he was wrong.
Within minutes, Yang Xili returned, shouting in Anhui dialect: "You two watch out and don't let anyone come in!" Then the two burly men went out and closed the door.
"Help! Help! He's going to kill me!" In response to Wang Juan's cries for help, Yang Xili remained unmoved, instead hugging and fondling Wang Juan while uttering crude remarks. Wang Juan pushed him away forcefully, which resulted in another severe beating.
Hiding in the storeroom, Yang Wu heard the sounds of fighting, cursing, and his wife's pitiful cries... In this room less than 50 square meters in size, the storeroom and inner room doors were adjacent, and the distance between Yang Wu's hiding place and the bed in the inner room was only about two meters. Yang Wu said he could clearly hear everything happening inside the room.
In fact, upon investigation by the reporter, if Yang Wu slightly raised his head, he could see everything happening in the living room and the inner room. But Yang Wu could only quietly shed tears, even biting his teeth to suppress his sobs.
Yang Wu heard that after the fight lasted for 20 minutes, Yang Xili tore off Wang Juan's clothes and dragged her into the inner room. Subsequently, he heard the sound of the bed moving and Yang Xili's lewd moans. Yang Wu judged that Yang Xili was raping his wife while continuing to beat her.
The camera installed in Yang Wu's home to prevent extortion recorded part of the case process. The surveillance clearly showed that Yang Xili grabbed Wang Juan like a chick, beat her severely for more than ten minutes, then hugged, forcibly kissed, and groped her from behind, left the room to instruct his accomplices, and then pulled Wang Juan back into the room.
Finally, after about an hour, Yang Wu mustered the courage to call the police. When he dialed 110, he whispered, "My wife was raped."
Yang Wu felt both scared and sad. Standing less than 1.6 meters tall, wearing a tattered red T-shirt, his face devoid of color, he looked frail and weak —— Yang Wu said he was no match for Yang Xili, who stood nearly 1.8 meters tall, especially considering Yang Xili's weapons and two accomplices. If he reported it, he feared retaliation.
"I wanted to grab a knife and rush in, killing this beast!" Yang Wu cried bitterly, but thought of the four children they needed to raise and the 76-year-old mother they needed to support. "If I killed someone and went to jail, what would happen to them? I can't let my family fall apart!" In this dilemma, Yang Wu chose silence repeatedly.
About an hour later, Yang Wu finally summoned the courage to report the crime. According to his description, his body was limp, trembling with fear outweighing anger. After dialing 110, Yang Wu dared only to whisper, "My wife was raped." Due to the low volume, the operator initially mistook "rape" for "robbery."
After several calls to 110, Yang Wu managed to explain the situation clearly, informing the police of the exact location of the incident. A few minutes later, the police arrived with the security guards. Seeing the police burst in, Yang Wu also emerged from his hiding spot.
Yang Wu said that at the time, Yang Xili was naked, having already completed the rape, and continued to beat Wang Juan. Wang Juan lay naked on the ground, crying out for help, with a large amount of blood flowing from her body. Yang Wu first hurried to find clothes for his wife.
In the chaos, Yang Xili pulled up his pants and tried to escape. Yang Wu chased after him, and the two wrestled together. This scene was witnessed by the security guards who entered to assist in the arrest.
Wang Juan was covered in bruises, her face bloody, muttering, "There's no face left to live, might as well die." Seeing Yang Wu approach, Wang Juan cried and scolded him for not being a real man.
Yang Wu quickly took his wife to the hospital. The doctor recommended hospitalization, but due to lack of funds, less than 10 hours after admission, he had to take his wife back home.
Yang Wu's mother also cried and hit him, blaming him for being an "useless husband, useless son." "My son is too honest, I feel sorry for my daughter-in-law," the elderly lady knelt down and begged her daughter-in-law for forgiveness.
We have to admit that Yang Wu, as a man and a husband, performed too miserably, too uselessly, too ineffectively. But it's not just him; apathy and fear of trouble have become national characteristics. Without justice, where does courage come from? Ultimately, our society has problems. Villains commit evil deeds openly, while commoners endure injustice and harm silently. With such imbalance, what kind of villain wouldn't dare to act, what kind of bad deed wouldn't be committed?