The police published the details of the horrific incident around midnight yesterday.
The late Ms Zhao was riding in a car provided by the carpooling service 'DiDi' in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province when she was raped and murdered by the driver. This appalling incident raised great concern among citizens. Some netizens even questioned the police's unwillingness in accepting the case. Local forces announced the complete details of the case on the morning of the 26th, clarifying that "This is not the case."
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The police published the details of the horrific incident around midnight yesterday.
According to the information released by the Wenzhou Public Security Bureau, the victim's friend, Ms Zhu, arrived at the Shangtang police station at 4:22 pm on August 24th to report that Ms Zhao had taken a DiDi ride-hailing service from Yueqing to Yongjia at 1 pm, but had lost connection with her en route. Concerned about her safety and whereabouts, Ms Zhu contacted DiDi's customer service to inquire about the situation, but was only met with the message, "[The customer services] will reply within 1 hour."
At 4:41 pm, the police contacted DiDi's customer service again on behalf of Ms Zhu, informing DiDi of the urgency of the incident, requesting the acquisition of the information concerning the identity and vehicle of the suspect. However, the customer service responded, "A security expert will intervene in this incident", and that they will have to wait.
It was until 5:13 did DiDi finally provided information concerning the case, stating that Ms Zhou had cancelled her ride at 2:10 pm, and the customer service believed that the victim did not get on the vehicle. However, the police doubted that was the case, insisting that DiDi provide the driving license and identity of the accused driver. However, the customer service still vehemently refused to do so.
At 5:32 pm, another friend of the late Ms Zhou states that she had received a message calling for help from the victim. The police immediately contacted Ms Zhou's family, and found out that the family had just reported to the Yueqing Police Station at about 5:30 pm. The police clarified that they had not received any information concerning on the matter before 4:22 pm that day, and that the rumour circulating around the Internet that "friends and family immediately contacted the police, but were declined from filing a case because the force did not have the licence plate number and the driver's phone number" is a false accusation.
The police contacted DiDi again at 5:36 pm, but the customer service indicated it would take 3 to four hours to process. It wasn't until the police expressed the urgency of the situation did DiDi agree to speed up the processing. At 5:49 pm, DiDi requested for identification documents for 2 police officers and a letter of confirmation from the police department before going through with the process. Authorities mailed the documents to DiDi at 6:04 pm, and finally, at 6:13 pm, the license plate and information of the vehicle's owner were handed over to the police.
Mr Zhong admitted to raping the late Ms Zhou on the hillside of Danxi Town, after which he slit her throat with a dagger and threw her off the cliff. The forensic pathologist's autopsy initially identified the victim's death to be due to acute haemorrhage caused by a fracture of the right neck artery. The case is still under further investigation.
More information has been rumoured concerning DiDi, and screenshots of a chat group Mr Zhong is allegedly a member of, named "Wuhan DiDi Official Group", was leaked online. The screenshots show several supposed DiDi drivers posting and discussing pictures of their passengers, and making comments about their appearances.
Even more disturbingly, phrases such as "I really want to rape her" and "rape her on the spot" were spotted within the screenshots. Additionally, some other official DiDi groups in Dongguan and Chengdu also had similar comments.
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According to the information released by the Wenzhou Public Security Bureau, the victim's friend, Ms Zhu, arrived at the Shangtang police station at 4:22 pm on August 24th to report that Ms Zhao had taken a DiDi ride-hailing service from Yueqing to Yongjia at 1 pm, but had lost connection with her en route. Concerned about her safety and whereabouts, Ms Zhu contacted DiDi's customer service to inquire about the situation, but was only met with the message, "[The customer services] will reply within 1 hour."
Image of the victim, Ms Zhou (Online image)
At 4:41 pm, the police contacted DiDi's customer service again on behalf of Ms Zhu, informing DiDi of the urgency of the incident, requesting the acquisition of the information concerning the identity and vehicle of the suspect. However, the customer service responded, "A security expert will intervene in this incident", and that they will have to wait.
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It was until 5:13 did DiDi finally provided information concerning the case, stating that Ms Zhou had cancelled her ride at 2:10 pm, and the customer service believed that the victim did not get on the vehicle. However, the police doubted that was the case, insisting that DiDi provide the driving license and identity of the accused driver. However, the customer service still vehemently refused to do so.
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At 5:32 pm, another friend of the late Ms Zhou states that she had received a message calling for help from the victim. The police immediately contacted Ms Zhou's family, and found out that the family had just reported to the Yueqing Police Station at about 5:30 pm. The police clarified that they had not received any information concerning on the matter before 4:22 pm that day, and that the rumour circulating around the Internet that "friends and family immediately contacted the police, but were declined from filing a case because the force did not have the licence plate number and the driver's phone number" is a false accusation.
Image of the suspect, Mr Zhong (Online image)
The police contacted DiDi again at 5:36 pm, but the customer service indicated it would take 3 to four hours to process. It wasn't until the police expressed the urgency of the situation did DiDi agree to speed up the processing. At 5:49 pm, DiDi requested for identification documents for 2 police officers and a letter of confirmation from the police department before going through with the process. Authorities mailed the documents to DiDi at 6:04 pm, and finally, at 6:13 pm, the license plate and information of the vehicle's owner were handed over to the police.
The Yueqing City Police Burea immediately formed an ad hoc investigation team and launched an emergency protocol, requesting support from the Wenzhou Police Station. At about 4 am on Saturday the 25th, the police finally arrested a male suspect, named as Mr Zhong. At 9 in the morning, the police located the vehicle involved.
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Mr Zhong admitted to raping the late Ms Zhou on the hillside of Danxi Town, after which he slit her throat with a dagger and threw her off the cliff. The forensic pathologist's autopsy initially identified the victim's death to be due to acute haemorrhage caused by a fracture of the right neck artery. The case is still under further investigation.
The late Ms Zhou's body was found down in a ditch, with a large hole in her jeans. (Online image)
More information has been rumoured concerning DiDi, and screenshots of a chat group Mr Zhong is allegedly a member of, named "Wuhan DiDi Official Group", was leaked online. The screenshots show several supposed DiDi drivers posting and discussing pictures of their passengers, and making comments about their appearances.
Compilation of the disturbing texts (Screenshot)
Even more disturbingly, phrases such as "I really want to rape her" and "rape her on the spot" were spotted within the screenshots. Additionally, some other official DiDi groups in Dongguan and Chengdu also had similar comments.
The police advised the public to share the license plate number and the driver's name to friends and relatives when taking ride-sharing or ride-hailing services (e.g. Uber) for safety reasons.
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DiDi has suspended its "Hitch" service, one of its carpooling services, starting Monday, and had fired two executives. The company is slammed for failing to respond promptly to a possible warning sign about Mr Zhong, as just before the day of the incident, another female passenger had complained about the same driver, saying that Mr Zhong had repeatedly asked her to sit in front, drove them to a remote spot and followed her for a while even after she got out of the car.
DiDi Chuxing released a statement saying, "Our customer service promises to reply to customers within two hours but we failed and did not carry out an investigation into this complaint in a timely way. No matter what reasons we had, we shoulder inescapable responsibility."
