A man in China forcibly carried his wife out of a courtroom to avoid getting divorced.

The woman, surnamed Chen, had filed for divorce from her husband, Li, accusing him of domestic violence and alleging that he became aggressive with her when intoxicated.

Chen and Li live in the southwestern Sichuan province. They have been married for 20 years and share two sons and a daughter, according to the Shanghai Morning Post.

Despite Chen’s wishes to legally separate from Li, the court did not grant the divorce, claiming the couple was united by a “deep emotional bond.”

A man in China fled a courtroom carrying his wife on his back to avoid getting divorced

Image credits: Karolina Kaboompics / Pexels

The court insisted that the pair could still find a way to reconcile. Additionally, the decision was influenced by Li’s not wanting to get a divorce, as per the South China Morning Post.

Chen appealed the case, and the two met again in the courtroom for a second trial.

Fearing the judge would rule in Chen’s favor, Li lifted the woman off the floor and fled the courtroom with her, carrying her on his back as she screamed.

The judge on the case and court officers rushed to help Chen and reprimanded Li.

After the incident, Li apologized for his “extreme actions” and promised not to repeat the “mistake” in the future.

The woman, surnamed Chen, accused her husband, Li, of domestic violence before filing for divorce

Image credits: Karolina Kaboompics / Pexels

Image credits: Sora Shimazaki / Pexels

“In my emotional agitation, I mistakenly thought I was about to divorce the appellant, so I carried her out of the courtroom, ignoring the instructions of the judges and court officers who tried to stop my extreme actions,” he wrote in a letter on September 12.

“I now realize the seriousness of my mistake and its negative impact. 

“I guarantee that I will never repeat this mistake in the future.”

Ultimately, the couple did not divorce. Under court mediation, Chen decided to give her husband another chance.

In China, many women endure more than 30 episodes of violence before they seek help or go to the police, says Lin Shuang, who has worked as an anti-domestic violence volunteer in Shanghai for eight years.

Li apologized for his behavior in a letter and promised to “never repeat this mistake in the future”

Image credits: Cottonbro studio / Pexels

Image credits: Christian Wasserfallen / Pexels

A 2016 study by the All-China Women’s Federation found that 60% of women who commit suicide in China do so after being victims of domestic violence.

A total of 1,214 people died in the 942 cases related to domestic violence that occurred between March 1, 2016, when China’s Anti-domestic Violence Law came into effect, and December 31, 2019, according to the NGO Equality.

In her book Violent Intimacy, Tiantian Zheng argues that domestic violence in China is rooted in the notion of the family as a cornerstone of the state. In this view, women’s individual rights are seen as secondary and less important than the need to preserve the family unit.

Zheng also associates domestic violence with Confucian thinking and the discourse of “family-state harmony,” which dictates that women should be “dutiful wives and virtuous mothers” and is praised by Chinese President Xi Jinping,  as well as with women’s financial dependency on men.

If you or someone you know is struggling with domestic abuse, help is available. The Safe and Together Institute provides international domestic violence resources.

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