A LOCAL lawmaker from Jilin Province in Northeast China was detained in Shenzhen after molesting a woman in Futian, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

    The man, a 49-year-old district lawmaker in Jilin, has resigned as a lawmaker after the incident. He was not identified.

    The woman, surnamed Zhang, told the paper that the man lifted her skirt, groped her legs with one hand and touched her breasts with the other hand at around 3 a.m. Sept. 1 while she was walking home with her cousin and friends after leaving a bar in Coco Park in Futian District.

    “He put his hand inside my skirt and grabbed me forcefully. I still have bruises from his scratching,” she told the paper.

    One of Zhang’s friends pushed him away, and Zhang confronted him. While the man’s friends stopped Zhang and her friends, the man and his female companion walked away and got inside a car on Fuhua 3rd Road.

    Zhang and her friends tried to pull the man from his car but were stopped by his friends. The scuffle drew the attention of a police aide who was patrolling nearby. The police aide asked the two sides to go to the police station for investigation but the man refused.

    After Zhang reported that she was molested to police, the man was taken to the Futian Police Station.

    Zhang provided two pieces of video footage to the paper, which confirmed her account of the incident.

    “He remained unscrupulous at the police station, whistling and making faces. He told the officers that he was a lawmaker,” Zhang told the paper.

    The officers asked the two sides to make a settlement. Their mediation failed because Zhang refused to accept a settlement while the man denied Zhang’s accusation.

    The man was later released by police pending a reply from the district legislature in Jilin. The police said the man resigned as a lawmaker after the district people’s congress in Jilin received the report from Futian police. He returned to the police station later for investigation.

    After the conclusion of the investigation last week, the man was given a five-day detention by the police.

    According to China’s public security regulations, molestation or public obscenity results in a five- to 10-day detention. More serious offenses, like rape and sexual assault, face severe punishments under the criminal law.  (Lin Min)