CHENGDU: More than 100 people reportedly attacked a man after he threatened to jump from a high-rise window along with his two-year-old daughter in Sichuan province.
Hu Binjun, 34, had earlier hung his daughter out of his eighth-floor window for several minutes, according to witnesses.
"He deserved the beating because he was so inhumane to his child," said a woman at the scene.
The incident happened at a residential building in eastern Chengdu on Tuesday at 8 am, reportedly after Hu had quarreled with his wife, Wang Xingxin, after his alleged drug use.
Chen Long, the leader of a team of firefighters sent to the scene, said he urged Hu to be calm in the interests of the child before deciding to try to snatch the girl by force.
"But when I slid from the ninth floor to the eighth, the man was alerted. He jumped into the bedroom but placed the baby upside down outside the window," Chen said.
Firefighters in the apartment diverted Hu's attention while Chen slid down to the eighth floor and rescued the baby.
"When the man jumped onto the windowsill and was about to jump off the building, I pushed the window and cops inside the bedroom were quick enough to capture him," Chen said.
When the man was taken out of the building, onlookers attacked him, despite the best efforts of about a dozen police officers.
Hu and Wang moved to Chengdu from Wanzhou in eastern Sichuan a month ago.
"We got married three years ago. My husband was very kind to me and our daughter," Wang said.
Hu, a former bus driver, is currently unemployed and started recently taking drugs, which led to quarrels, she said.
On Monday evening, Hu took drugs. Wang said she complained and told him he would eventually become mentally unbalanced.
The quarrel escalated on Tuesday morning, said a staff member with the building's property management section.
Wang said her husband became delusional after taking drugs and believed someone had threatened him with a gun.
Questions:
1. How old was the man who threatened to jump from his apartment window while holding his two year old child?
2. How many people then beat him after he and the child were then pulled to safety?
3. What was the reason given for his behaviour?
Answers:
1. 34.
2. Approximately 100.
3. He had lost his job, started taking drugs, became delusional and then thought someone was trying to shoot him with a gun.
(英語點津 Helen 編輯)
Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.
He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.