Two women tied up and shamed by China Covid security for not wearing masks to collect a takeaway

Two women were tied up and left in the street after they reportedly picked up a takeaway meal without wearing masks, in a humiliating abuse of power by officials enforcing China’s strict Covid rules.

A video showed the two visibly distressed women with their hands tied at a checkpoint near the entrance to a residential compound in the southern city of Guangzhou on Thursday.

An earlier video showed a group of men in blue protective suits and guard uniforms surrounding the women.

One of the women can be heard furiously accusing one of the men of discriminating against people from Hubei province, referring to protests by migrant workers who say they are being discriminated against during mandatory mass Covid testing campaigns.

The woman swore aggressively and told staff to call the police, before being pushed to the ground and restrained by the group of men.

One of the women involved later recounted the incident in a post on China’s Weibo social media site.

“My friend got a bit emotional, they put us down even though we did not have any physical confrontation … my friend’s clothes were also torn apart,” she wrote. 

“They didn’t allow us to call the police … they were violent to us before even checking our health code.”

The incident began when the Covid staff prevented the women from going back to their apartment because one of them had gone to collect a takeaway but had not worn a mask, she said.

The videos sparked heated debate on Chinese social media, with some Weibo users criticising the women’s aggressive encounter with the Covid workers.

Others, however, criticised what they said was public shaming in the 21st century. However, videos and images related to the incident have been quickly scrubbed from Weibo.

“How come they can limit someone’s personal freedom like that? They are not law enforcement authority, they don’t have any clear documentation, can you do whatever you want in the name of the epidemic?” asked one user.

Police investigating the case

Police in Guangzhou told Chinese media that they are currently investigating the case of two women.

Abuse of power by officials and workers enforcing China’s draconian Covid restrictions has become increasingly common in recent months.

Covid staff reportedly fear punishment if they make any kind of mistake in putting Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy into practice.

China eased a series of Covid restrictions last Friday, which led to some cities stopping mandatory mass testing drives - but the country is still adhering to the zero-Covid policy.

Several districts in Guangzhou have been under lockdown since the beginning of this month after a surge of Covid cases there.

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