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Home Inns Apologize for Near-Abduction of a Woman in Its Hotel in Beijing

Recently attention of Chinese media was drawn by a story of a young woman who was nearly abducted at a Home Inn hotel in Beijing while one of employees of the hotel was looking on. This is not the first time the business hotel is reported to have links with the sex industry.

The woman shared her story using the alias Wanwan. She stayed at Yitel hotel in 798 Art Zone in Beijing. While walking in the corridor of the hotel, she was attacked by a man during almost five minutes. There was the hotel employee, but he just stood watching and didn’t even try to help the woman. Surveillance cameras recorded the attack, however, both police and the hotel neglected claims of the woman. Only public reaction in social media helped drawing attention to the case. Just within few days the weibo page of “girl attacked at Yitel” received 1.8 million comments. After that the parent company of Yitel, Home Inns Group, issued public apology and promised to carry out a “thorough investigation”.

While thousands of internet users simply blame the hotel for its inactivity, certain media organizations and bloggers try to find possible reasons behind this attack. There are opinions that the hotel is linked to gangs that provide sex services in guestrooms. Reporters found cards that promote sex services in trash bins in the hotel. The cards contain photographs of women and advertise “Beautiful Night Leisure Club” and “Special offer for 200 yuan with official invoice provided”. The cards also mention types of sex services provided in explicit language. A reporter from The Beijing News called one of these numbers from the card and a man who answered the call offered arranged sex services with “students”, “air stewardesses” and “white collars”. One of the hotel guests said he had regularly discovered such cards near his door in the evening. Currently, relation of the hotel and gang that provides sex services is under investigation.

18.05.2016

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