Photo: IC

A user of China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo apologized late on Thursday for misleading the public over an alleged case in which a driver for China's online ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing sexually assaulted a passenger and live streamed the process. 

The user, whose screen name on Weibo is qiaokelicuicuisha, released a post at 7:15 pm on Thursday claiming that a Didi driver sexually assaulted a female passenger and live streamed the process on June 10. 

The user attached a link to an article on the Github blog platform, which claimed that the case happened in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province.  

But in a post released around 10:00 pm on Thursday, she said that she was not sure whether the driver was a Didi driver and apologized for misleading the public toward an unfavorable situation for Didi.   

The incident soon went viral on social media platforms, reminding Chinese netizens of murders of female passengers in 2018 by Didi drivers. Following the murders, Didi Chuxing in August 2018 suspended its Didi Hitch service, a lower-cost service that links drivers and passengers heading in the same direction. 

Amid the new controversy, Didi said on Weibo on Thursday night that it had noticed the post and contacted the police. The firm is also urgently verifying the matter and will release details after further progress.

Henan police also responded late on Thursday, saying that they had ordered police in Zhengzhou to immediately launch an investigation into the case. 

Global Times