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It's a chilling love story.
On December 12, 2019, Southern Weekend published an article ""Shuddering" Love: The Chat Record of Peking University Suicide Girl", which exposed the reason behind the suicide of Peking University girl Bao Li, which instantly triggered heated discussions among netizens.
After three years, the "first case of PUA" in China is about to have a result. According to a number of media reports, the case of Peking University girl Bao Li's boyfriend Mou Mouhan suspected of abuse will be publicly announced at 9:30 a.m. on June 7.
Haidian District People's Court Source: Visual China
Absolute obedience under mind control
"Remember that everything about you is mine, don't say no to me again, as long as you can do it, I will marry you and go home - let's review what to call me in front of others"
"Master" ...
These are some of the conversations in the chat history of the two.
On October 9, 2019, Bao Li, a female student at Peking University Law School, committed suicide by taking medicine in a hotel in Beijing, and was declared "brain dead" during the medical treatment.
Relevant chat records disclosed by media reports show that before Bao Li committed suicide, her boyfriend Mou Mouhan had asked Bao Li to take nude photos, get pregnant before miscarriage, leave medical records, and undergo sterilization surgery.
For a time, Mou Mouhan was deeply caught in the vortex of public opinion and was reprimanded by netizens. Some netizens accused him of mind controlling Bao Li during his relationship. Later, although he was interviewed by the media to "clarify" the facts and shirk responsibility, it attracted a sigh from netizens.
Screenshot of the chat history of the two. Source: Red Star News
On April 11, 2020, Bao Li was declared medically dead, and on June 11 of the same year, Mou Mouhan was criminally detained on suspicion of abuse. On February 15, 2021, Mou Mouhan was prosecuted by the Beijing Haidian District Procuratorate on suspicion of abuse.
On July 6, 2022, the Haidian District People's Court of Beijing heard the criminal and incidental civil litigation case of defendant Mou Mouhan suspected of abuse. Because the case involved personal privacy, the trial was held in private. The court announced that the verdict would be pronounced at a later date.
The young Bao Li, who should have a great future, ended her life because of an extreme relationship, which makes people sigh. And the incident also made more people know the term PUA (mind control).
Photo of Bao Li before her death. Source: Red Star News
Is the "conviction" too light? Lawyer interpretation
In this case, Mou was prosecuted on suspicion of abuse. Bao Li's mother believes that the punishment for the crime of "abuse" is too light, and some netizens asked, can the crime of abuse be applied to this kind of psychological abuse in love? What are the sentencing standards in criminal law? In this regard, the Chao News Fadu Studio Law Popularization Think Tank has something to say. In this issue, the lawyers' interpretation comes from Chen Junyu, a partner of Zhejiang Lawyer Law Firm, and Zhao Liangshan, a senior partner of Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm.
1. Is PUA abuse? What acts are convicted of abuse?
Lawyer Chen Junyu: Abuse is not limited to physical torture and torture, but also includes mental torture. The most common "five-step trap" of PUA, curiosity-exploration-fascination-destruction-emotional abuse, through psychological control, makes the other party's feelings collapse and lose rationality. PUA is actually a very invisible form of psychological abuse.
Recognition as abuse generally means that acts of physical and mental destruction, torture, and persecution of the victim will be judged to be abuse. This is divided into acts of physical positivity, such as beatings, bondage, confinement, sarcasm, verbal abuse, insults, restrictions on freedom, forced overwork, etc. and passive inaction, such as not giving treatment, not giving enough food, not wearing warm clothes, etc. However, with the development of society, through packaging, training and a series of attracted to the opposite sex, and then through mind control, the wrong three views are produced, until the victim has cognitive impairment and rational judgment, which is a new type of invisible abuse method.
He is a member of the Chao News Law Popularization Think Tank
2. According to article 260 of the Criminal Code, the crime of ill-treatment refers to the physical and mental brutal persecution of family members living together, often by beating, binding, starvation, restriction of freedom, humiliation, denial of medical treatment or forced overwork, etc., with aggravating circumstances. Bao Li and her boyfriend are in a romantic relationship, is the crime of abuse applicable?
Lawyer Chen Junyu: Whether the subject is qualified is the focus of the dispute in this case.
The Ninth Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect on November 1, 2015, expanded the subject of the crime of abuse from family members to persons with guardianship or care obligations, forming a person with guardianship or care obligations based on marriage relationship, blood relationship, fictitious blood (adoption) relationship, and aggravating circumstances constitute this crime.
This case is a serious consequence of the couple's relationship committing psychological abuse during their relationship, which led to Bao Li's suicide. According to the principle of criminality, the subject has been expanded to include "husband and wife" who have a de facto marriage relationship, but simple couple relationship is still not included.
Lawyer Zhao Liangshan: According to the 2015 Opinions on Lawfully Handling Domestic Violence Crime Cases, the defendant subjectively does not have the intention of harming the victim's health or depriving the victim of his life, but out of pursuit of the victim's physical and mental pain, he commits long-term or repeated acts of abuse, gradually causing the victim's physical damage, and negligently causing the victim to be seriously injured or killed; or where the abuse makes the victim unbearable and self-harm or commits suicide, resulting in serious injury or death, it falls under the ill-treatment provided for in the second paragraph of article 260 of the Criminal Law "causing serious injury or death to the victim", and shall be convicted and punished as the crime of maltreatment. The Opinions provide that mental abuse is also a crime.
Similarly, according to the 2015 Opinions on the Lawful Handling of Domestic Violence Crime Cases, it is pointed out: "Domestic violence crimes that occur between family members and between people living together with guardianship, support, foster care, cohabitation and other relationships seriously infringe on citizens' personal rights, destroy family relations, and affect social harmony and stability." ", including couples in cohabiting relationships in the category of abuse.
He is a member of the Chao News Law Popularization Think Tank
3. If the person is overwhelmed and commits suicide after suffering from his partner's PUA for a long time, is the partner civilly or criminally liable? How to prove it? What are the difficulties in defending rights?
Lawyer Chen Junyu: We have handled similar cases, and most of these cases occur between family members, such as husband and wife, kindergarten, elderly or nanny care. The two parties have formed a basic legal relationship and can protect their rights through relevant laws.
Criminal cases must comply with the statutory principle of crime, such as intentional injury, abuse, insult, and instigation of intentional homicide.
From the perspective of evidence, the difficulty of rights protection lies in the causal relationship between the illegal act and the damage result. The parties need to save chat records, videos, audio recordings, hospital medical records, etc. as much as possible.
Lawyer Zhao Liangshan: The popular interpretation of PUA is that in a romantic relationship, men first coax girls with various words, and then control their spirits and make them inseparable. Then constantly suppress and deceive the girl, making the girl extremely painful, and finally being deceived by money and even hurting her life. PUA alone does not constitute a crime.
As mentioned above, according to the Opinions on Lawfully Handling Domestic Violence Crime Cases, only if the victim is unbearable and self-harms or commits suicide due to PUA, resulting in serious injury or death, it constitutes the crime of abuse in accordance with the second paragraph of article 260 of the Criminal Law.
In judicial practice, it is not uncommon for a party to commit suicide after suffering PUA from his partner for a long time, and under normal circumstances, the parties will settle the case by means of private civil compensation settlement or by way of no settlement, and there has not been a case of suspected crime.
In terms of collecting evidence, victims' families generally look up the deceased's mobile phone before death, using chat records with the other party as key evidence, and using the testimony of the deceased's former girlfriend or friend as auxiliary evidence.
4. At present, in the current laws of the mainland, what are the standards for conviction and punishment for mental control that leads to bad consequences? Or a related definition?
Lawyer Chen Junyu: The Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, and the Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China regulate PUA behavior from the perspective of network security. From the perspectives of basic civil rights, criminal offenses, civil rights and women's rights and interests, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors provides for media information involving children from the perspective of child protection.
These laws, regulations and policy documents jointly protect the legitimate rights and interests of mainland citizens in the face of PUA, mind control leading to damage consequences, etc.
However, the current law does not have a separate and specific standard for conviction and sentencing for the bad consequences of mind control, and it is recommended that specific laws and regulations be introduced and improved as soon as possible.
Lawyer Zhao Liangshan: Mental control is not clearly stipulated in the criminal law, but it is only reflected in the above-mentioned "Opinions on Handling Domestic Violence Crime Cases in accordance with the Law", and there are still quantitative problems to be solved to explicitly criminalize mental control, such as how to calculate the size of the damage caused by mental violence.
5. In real life, couple relationships, family relationships, what situations do you think may be suspected of being PUA? How can the injured party protect itself when it encounters such problems?
Lawyer Zhao Liangshan: In real life, PUA parties often like to self-package and create false personalities; Being in love, too rational in life, even a little cold, sometimes deliberately acting very melancholy and distressing in front of the victim, so as to arouse the victim's desire for protection and compassion; The PUA party will put pressure on the injured party, brainwash the injured party, make the injured party feel that they are not good enough, and over time, the injured party will only become more and more humble and deny themselves more and more in the relationship.
It is recommended that when the injured party finds out that they have been PUA, they should dare to stand up and say no, inform their families as soon as possible, stay away from each other, and do not choose to be silent and hide. In the event of injury, civil damages may be filed in court. If the circumstances are serious, you can also choose to call the police and the police will intervene in the investigation.