Core Tip: On November 8, an elderly man was beaten for intervening on a bus, and not a single person in the entire bus said a word. When the elderly man asked the driver to drive to the Public Security Bureau (PSB), the driver stopped the bus and let the thief escape, saying, "We can't get involved in this kind of matter; they will stab me with a knife. We never report to the police, you report it yourself if you want." Two hours later, the police arrived and explained the jurisdiction.
On November 25, China Youth Daily reported that at around 10:20 am on November 8, my wife and I were traveling in Lianyungang. We boarded a fast bus from Donghai to Xinpoo. The bus had been driving for about 40 minutes when a woman sitting behind us suddenly shouted that her bag had been slashed by a knife. She pointed out that a burly man sitting behind her did it.
At this moment, the burly man immediately stood up and began walking toward the door. The woman's boyfriend stepped forward to try to stop him, but the burly man not only pushed him away violently but also kicked him hard, making the atmosphere on the bus tense instantly. To my surprise, no one in the whole bus said a word, as if nothing had happened. When the burly man walked past me, a sense of indignation arose within me. Even though we were just an old couple, we both stood up and said loudly, "You can't leave; go to the PSB!" We then shouted to the driver, "Driver comrade, you must take responsibility and not stop the bus! Drive straight to the PSB!"
Before I could finish speaking, the burly man slapped me across the face, causing my nose to bleed and my glasses to be knocked off. Before I could recover, something unexpected happened - the bus suddenly stopped, and the doors quickly opened. Filled with even more indignation, I didn't bother to pick up my glasses; I simply covered my bleeding nose with my hand and stood up again to shout at the driver, "Don't stop the bus! Don't open the door! Drive to the PSB!"
Seeing this, the burly man went crazy and slapped me again, shouting, "It's none of your business! If you keep shouting, I'll beat you!" Then he turned around and jumped off the bus.
I angrily approached the driver and loudly rebuked him, "Why did you stop the bus? Would you remain indifferent if you were the victim of theft?" The driver replied, "We can't get involved in these kinds of matters; they will stab me with a knife." I asked the driver to call the police, but his response shocked me even more, "We never call the police. You do it yourself if you want."
In the end, it was still my wife who helped me dial "110". But at that time, I didn't know that bigger trouble was just beginning.
The first "110" police officer asked me, "Why are you calling the police?" I explained the situation and mentioned that I was a tourist currently on a moving bus. After some conversation, the police officer asked where I was now. A local person on the bus told me that the bus had already reached "White Cloud Tower", far past the scene of the crime, even though there was a nearby police station near the crime scene. Not long after, the police called back and asked the same question: where am I now? The officer then hinted to me, "You're not in our jurisdiction anymore; please call '110' again." Reluctantly, I had to call "110" again, but I received the same response.
Not long after, the police called again asking where I was. All I wanted was for the police to respond quickly and capture the criminal. So, I asked the driver to speak with the police directly. After a brief conversation, the driver parked the bus on the side of the road. But less than two minutes later, the driver said, "I can't wait any longer," and drove off again. From the time of the incident until I got off the bus that afternoon, within three hours, I dialed "110" three times and answered six calls from the police, yet I never saw a single policeman.
At around noon, when the bus reached its final destination, I immediately found the station manager. A female leader who came out from the broadcasting room listened to my account and said, "This is handled by the police since you have already reported it." Soon after, a police car arrived, and I angrily asked why it took almost two hours for them to arrive. Two officers explained again about jurisdiction!
At the police station, I felt like a suspect and spent over an hour being questioned and scolded. I reported the case hoping the police would act quickly and catch the suspected criminal. Given the traffic conditions and the distance to the nearest police point, it was entirely possible. Even if they couldn't catch him immediately, the officers should have boarded the bus to understand the situation, handle the case on-site, and promote positive energy. To achieve this purpose, I suggested that the police accompany us back to the bus station under the pretext of coordinating compensation. However, the police officer flatly refused, coldly saying, "Take it to court yourself."
Alas! We truly cannot comprehend why I tried to stop the criminal and demanded the driver to take responsibility to catch the criminal. Who was I doing all this for? In desperation, I wanted the police station to give me the phone number of the city bureau duty room so I could share our experience, but they claimed they didn't know.
The "trouble" lasted nearly an hour. Finally, the investigating officer handed me the materials and said that the case would be handled by a certain police station and required me to transfer the case with them. Again, it was about jurisdiction! Oh heavens! I am 58 years old, hit twice by the criminal, bleeding from the nose, without water all morning, and without lunch, and I still had to take the 2:40 pm bus back to Shanghai. What am I doing here? Why am I doing this?
Society belongs to everyone, but why didn't a bus full of young people dare to help us catch the criminal? And the public security bureau of Lianyungang, your investigation procedures, efficiency, and guiding principles really make us doubt and feel disappointed. Is the apathy of a bus full of people unrelated to what the public security department has done in reality? If the voice of justice goes unheard, that is truly terrifying.
Postscript:
A man intervenes to stop a wrongdoer, but due to the indifference of those around him, the wrongdoer escapes. While we criticize the coldness of human hearts and moral decay, we should also consider what responsibilities the government bears in establishing a good social trend. It is the government's duty to ensure that citizens who stand up for justice and help others do not feel disheartened, to protect their rights, and to give them fair evaluations. However, in this letter, the actions of the government made the nearly 60-year-old man who stood up for justice feel disheartened. He said on the phone to the editor, "The public security agency cannot arrive in time, and the person who ‘stands up for justice’ not only gets nothing in return but also pays the price of ‘meddling’. Under such circumstances, I can understand why a bus full of passengers dared not stop the bag-cutter from escaping."
If such incidents happen repeatedly, some departments of the government will become accelerators of societal moral decline.
(Source: China Youth Daily, Author: Lu Baojia)