Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the moment – seen three million times online – a female commuter spots a passenger who she said had harassed her on a train and proceeds to single-handedly restrain him in front of a huge crowd.
The dramatic citizen’s arrest happened at Tiyu West Road station, which is on Line 3 of the Guangzhou Metro in South China’s Guangdong Province, on 15th September.
CCTV images show commuter ‘Amei’ boarding the crowded train but later getting off at the station after reportedly being sexually harassed in the crowded car by the suspect.
“He deliberately pressed his groin area against my left thigh three times,” Amei told the police, adding that she was determined to catch the perpetrator.
Amei followed the man off the train, preparing to accost him, but realised he had entered a second train tailing another potential female victim.
The video shows Amei, who believed the suspect was using Tielu West Road as his hunting ground, waiting on the station platform for a reported 20 minutes.
When a train arrives and the platform doors open, Amei spots the suspect – wearing a short-sleeve blue shirt – in the crowd and ambushes him.
The footage shows the much taller Amei grabbing the man by the shirt collar and spinning him around as he tries to break free.
He kneels in front of her and then tries to escape back into the train carriage before the doors close, but Amei holds on tight and thwarts his getaway.
She manages to hold on until other witnesses arrive and help pin the suspect to the floor, before station police show up as well.
Amei said: “When I caught him, he knelt on the floor begging me to let him go, and not to call the police.”
The authorities said Amei later gave a statement and the suspect, who is 5 feet 3 inches and in his 30s, was jailed for 10 days for harassment.
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