BEIJING – A Chinese court has jailed six people for up to 11 years for the abuse of a woman who was shown chained by the neck in an online video in 2022. The widely shared video sparked a public outcry and calls for the better protection of women.

The video, which surfaced in January 2022, showed the woman in an apparently confused state in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu. It was seen by millions, stirring debate about the treatment of women and in particular the trafficking of brides in rural areas.

A man called Dong Zhimin had bought the woman for 5,000 yuan (S$970) and had kept her chained up in a room without sunlight, electricity and running water since 2017, the Jiangsu Xuzhou Intermediate People’s Court said on Friday.

Dong was jailed for nine years on Thursday for abuse and illegal imprisonment, the court said.

The woman, who had schizophrenia, had been sold twice before ending up with Dong. She had eight children during her time with Dong from 1999 to 2020, the court said.

Another five people who bought and sold her were jailed for eight to 11 years for human trafficking, the court said. REUTERS