Photo: VCG

A court in Central China's Henan Province has ordered a newlywed couple and nine others involved in a wedding prank to pay more than 230,000 yuan ($33,970) in compensation after a 20-year-old bridesmaid suffered a serious spinal injury that left her with a Grade 9 disability, reported chendu.cn, a news platform operated by Chengdu Media Group. 

The incident occurred during a wedding in October 2023, according to the report. After the bride surnamed Wang and groom surnamed Li left the bridal room, several guests dragged the bridesmaid, surnamed Zhang, onto a bed, wrapped her in bedding and repeatedly tossed her into the air. Zhang fell to the floor after they failed to catch her during the second throw. 

Zhang was diagnosed with a burst fracture of her first lumbar vertebra and was hospitalized for 18 days. A judicial appraisal later determined that the injury constituted a Grade 9 disability, said the report. 

According to China's classification of the degree of human disability, disability is divided into 10 grades, ranging from Grade 1, representing a 100 percent disability rate and the most severe impairment, to Grade 10, representing a 10 percent disability rate and the least severe level of disability.

The court found that the bridesmaid was not at fault. It ruled that the newlyweds, as organizers of the wedding, failed to stop the dangerous prank despite being aware of the local custom of "wedding hazing." One participant who was found to have dragged the victim onto the bed was held to bear greater responsibility, while the others shared joint liability, according to the verdict. 

The court ordered the newlyweds to bear 40 percent of the compensation, the main prank participant to bear 20 percent, and the other eight participants to jointly bear the remaining 40 percent. The total compensation, including damages for emotional distress, exceeded 230,000 yuan. 

Global Times