Shanghai man gets prison sentence for assaulting disease-control volunteer

A 35-year-old man in Shanghai was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison on Tuesday for beating up a volunteer who helped with community management during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The Shanghai native became the first in the municipality to be criminally penalized on charges of provoking a disturbance owing to bullying volunteers since the epidemic outbreak.

Since late January, most residential communities in Shanghai have adopted close-end management, implementing measures to minimize the number of entries and exits, to establish compulsory registration and body temperature checks of all visitors and to ban vehicles from outside.

On Jan 31, a relative of the offender, surnamed Ling, attempted to drive into his community in Shanghai's Minhang district but was refused by the 25-year-old volunteer, surnamed Xu, and the community security guards. Ling and his wife arrived at the scene and began to verbally abuse Xu.

Despite dissuasion by security guards and several neighbors, Ling dragged Xu onto the ground and sat on him, beating him on the head, shoulders and neck. Doctors verified that the victim sustained multiple soft tissue injuries and a lumbar fracture.

Ling was detained by police on Feb 1 and was approved for arrest by the district prosecuting agency on Feb 11. Prosecutors said his behavior violated social order at a time when society has united to help contain the spread of the virus, especially in a metropolis like Shanghai with more than 24 million permanent residents and a massive floating population.

"I want to apologize to the victim and his family, and I am willing to compensate him financially," Ling said.

The trial was conducted via the internet to prevent people from gathering. There were only three judges and a secretary in the courtroom. Ling was in the detention center, and the two prosecutors and the attorneys for Ling and Xu were in their offices.

Ling's case is not unique.

On Friday, a man surnamed Zou in Quzhou city, Zhejiang province, was sentenced to six months in prison for attempting to injure a volunteer with a concrete reinforcing bar, a dagger and a stone. The volunteer, who was helping with community management during the outbreak, had advised him not to gather with others and chat at the entrance of the neighborhood. The victim was not physically hurt because several people intervened.

On Feb 10, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice published a notice describing 10 kinds of offenders that will be punished during the outbreak, including those who hinder the jobs of government workers and volunteers aiming to contain the spread of the virus; those who refuse quarantine; those who fabricate false information about the epidemic; and those who disturb work at medical institutions.

More than 110,000 Shanghai residents have volunteered to work at the grassroots level, including in residential communities and at highway exits, and 38 percent of them are aged 60 or above. More volunteers will be mobilized, organized and dispatched to designated places, the Shanghai government said on Monday.