A VIRAL video of a man beating his wife in China, and cops’ handling of the case, has renewed a debate online over how to punish domestic abusers in the country.

A home security video that shows a man from the north-western city of Xi’an assaulting his wife during a citywide Covid-19 lockdown last week spread on Chinese social media.

The police response to the incident triggered an even wider uproar, with a related hashtag racking up more than 3.6 million views.

Xi’an police said the man, surnamed Wang, will be kept in custody for five days and released without criminal charge.

Under a Chinese domestic violence law passed in 2016, perpetrators can be punished with no more than 20 days of police detention. Tougher punishments can be meted out only if there is serious injury and proved criminal intent.

The viral video shows the man repeatedly hitting his partner as a child watches from a few feet away. It was first posted by the woman’s relatives and colleagues, and then picked up by official Chinese media.

“Domestic abusers get punished with only five days’ detention, and you wonder why Chinese women do not want to get married or have babies?” read a comment on Weibo.

A fight over family chores escalated due to the wife’s “extreme deeds and words”, according to police, who said officers have “criticised and educated” the woman – a move that triggered a swift online backlash.

“It is no use relying on the law for protection against domestic violence when all it does is criticise the victim,” said another Weibo commentator.

The woman “sustained soft-tissue damage”, said police, without giving details of her injury.

The incident happened while Xi’an, a megacity with more than 13 million residents, was under lockdown to curb a coronavirus outbreak.

Wang’s employer, a state-owned trading company in the city, over the weekend issued a notice saying it has fired him for violating rules of the Communist Party.

Domestic violence remains pervasive and under-reported in China, especially in rural communities.

There have been concerns that a recent change to China’s divorce laws – which introduced a mandatory 30-day “cooling-off” period for couples wishing to untie the knot – can make it harder for victims to leave abusive marriages.

One in four married Chinese women has experienced domestic abuse, according to an All-China Women’s Federation survey in 2013.

A Chinese man was sentenced to death for murdering his ex-wife as she live-streamed on social media last October, in a case that shocked the nation. – AFP, January 25, 2022.