Qian Feng Photo: VCG

Qian Feng, a Hunan TV host, has become embroiled in a rape scandal after a young woman calling herself Xiao Yi alleged on her Sina Weibo account on Tuesday that Qi took advantage of her drunkenness and raped her at his apartment in 2019.

Hunan TV, China's second-largest broadcaster, announced later that day they had suspended Qian and "will actively cooperate with relevant departments in their investigations."

On Tuesday, police in Shanghai said that "the existing evidence cannot prove the existence of a rape crime." But Xiao Yi on Wednesday posted on her Weibo account that she "hoped the bad guy can be punished," and would re-organize the evidence and report the case again to the police.

China's entertainment industry has seen a lot of recent scandals, with allegations of sexual assault involving celebrities such as Kris Wu. But some Chinese netizens seem to see these serious issues as trivial "entertainment" news. 

They do not care about the real truth of the event, but watch what is going on and write irresponsible opinions that might hurt the victims or ignore the seriousness of the case. This has distorted the morals of public opinion. They should realize that casual "consumption" of the victims' pain on social media is disgraceful.

Allegations of sexual assault should be dealt with by legal channels, not social media.