An onlooker has been detained by police in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, after encouraging another man, who was considering taking his own life on the top of a building, to jump.
The suicidal man eventually did jump and take his own life hours later, and police detained the onlooker in order to send a message that such actions are irresponsible and will not go unpunished.
Last Thursday, a 24-year-old man sparked a scene for several hours from 5 pm as he considered jumping off the roof of a 20-story building in Suzhou's Mudu township. As a crowd of concerned onlookers gathered on the street below, a man surnamed Shen shouted and encouraged the suicidal man to jump.
Witnesses said the man on the rooftop was in distress for a long time as police and the fire department tried to calm him down. He fell to his death at around 9 pm.
Later, videos of Shen urging the young man to jump began to circulate on social media, where his actions were widely criticized.
On Friday evening, local police released a statement saying that Shen will be detained for 10 days for causing a commotion and making inappropriate remarks, including encouraging the young man to jump from the building, which caused a negative social impact.
