Man suspected of assaulting woman in Beijing hotel caught

Screen capture of the video. [Photo/IC]

The man who reportedly attacked a woman in a four-star hotel in Beijing on April 3 has been arrested, said the official SinaWeibo account of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on Friday.

He was detained in Xuchang, Henan province, at about 9:00 pm on Thursday, after a joint operation between local and Beijing police force.

The suspect, surnamed Li, aged 24, is from Henan province, according to the Weibo account.

Further investigations are ongoing.

On Wednesday, a woman claimed in an online post that she was assaulted at a hotel and the employees did not help her. The alleged incident and reportedly indifference attitude of the staff triggered public anger and calls for more protection of women.

In the surveillance video of the hotel hallway, a man can be seen dragging the woman as she looked for her door key.

Several people, including a hotel staff member, are then seen passing without coming to her rescue. The employee can be seen only verbally asking the suspect to stop the assault instead of physically intervening.

Finally, some guests came to the woman's aid. But while they are calling the police, the man ran away.

Most of internet users expressed sympathy for the woman and anger at the hotel and called for more protection of women. The incident raised huge concerns over public security and anger over indifference of public and authority.

Beijing police said on Wednesday that they are conducting a "thorough investigation" into the case. The hotel has apologized and promised to tighten security.