Chinese crowds are not known to be good samaritans. In emergency situations, Chinese commonly display what is known as the “bystander effect”, the most famous demonstration of which involved the tragic 2011 death of Wang Yue, a Foshan toddler who was ignored by 18 pedestrians after being struck in a hit-and-run accident.

The bystander effect was on full display after a Dalian university student was molested while taking a public bus. After loudly confronting her assailant and trying to report him to the police, she was jeered by her fellow passengers, who refused to help.

As first posted online, and later confirmed by the Northeast China News Network, the incident took place on board the Dalian No. 10 bus. Within view of several passengers, a man removed his pants and rubbed his genitals up against the buttocks of a female passenger. Once she realized what was happening, the victim took a picture of the assailant and asked the bus driver to stop so she could report him (the molester) to the police.

According to a Weibo post, once the bus pulled over, other passengers complained: “I’m in a hurry to get home. This is your problem, so you should get off the bus and take care of it yourself” and, “Don’t waste our time.” Passengers also refused to get involved when the assailant stole the victim’s phone, leaving it to the victim’s female friend to try to catch him by herself. Even though one man eventually stepped forward to try to help the victim, no one stopped the assailant when he escaped through a window.

The victim’s friend said “all we could do was suffer in silence as the assailant escaped any legal ramifications.”

Reaction to the incident drew mixed support for the victim’s attempt to report the incident to the police. One person supported her, saying, “The majority of women (that are victimized) choose to remain quiet; but, this silence only makes these perverts more aggressive. In order to safeguard their own safety, girls that are confronted with this situation should bravely resist.”

Other people weren’t in favor of such a public confrontation. Another person said, “If I report (the crime) and let myself get identified by the bad person, what will I do if he retaliates? If public security institutions had special ways of reporting including SMS text messaging or through the Weibo microblogging service, that would be ideal. I could report the crime and not fear any chance of being hurt.”

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