In a horrifying incident, college student Zhao from Jiangsu province was recently expelled from Soochow Institution after it was discovered that he had tampered with photographs of female peers to create pornographic content. He had posted these on porn forums with derogatory captions in an effort to victimise the women.
The case came to light after one of Zhao’s victims, a high school classmate of his, posted an article on WeChat detailing her ordeal. The anonymous author described how in May of last year, rumours had spread about her, and it was believed that a shared WeChat friend had downloaded photos of her and another classmate, edited them and uploaded them to a porn website.
Subsequently, an investigation was conducted and it was found that the perpetrator had edited 11 posts with the involvement of 10 female acquaintances. Screenshots of the posts revealed that the photos had been extensively edited, with offensive language and imagery accompanying the postings.
Through the process of progressively limiting the number of friends who could view the photos, the victims managed to identify Zhao as the individual responsible. After talking to him face-to-face, he admitted his involvement without offering an apology.
The police informed the author in March that Zhao would be given a 10-day detention upon the completion of his graduation. However, the institution decided to expel him due to his illegal activities. This action seemed to have been unacceptable by many who commented on the case on social media.
The author later posted a follow-up article hoping that other victims of assaults would not give up in their quest for justice. Distorting a person’s content is a criminal offence and appropriate action must be taken against anyone who indulges in such behaviour, according to the author.
The Soochow Institution rules have a zero-tolerance attitude towards sexual harassment and those found guilty are expelled immediately; a lesson which Zhao has learnt the hard way.
The incident is a reminder for individuals to keep their online activities safe and to be aware of the risks of sharing or downloading images online. People should also be aware of the legal consequences of deliberately manipulating and spreading obscene information.
