Follow Up of the Day: Police in Foshan, China, told local media that they have formally arrested the two men responsible for the horrific double hit-and-run that claimed the life of the 2-year-old girl best known as Yueyue.
The toddler’s father, Wang Chichang, told the Legal Evening News that the alleged driver of the first car called him up to offer money, but refused to apologize or even acknowledge at first that he was, in fact, the driver.
“How did your parents educate you?,” Wang reportedly told the man after he eventually owned up to his role in Yueyue’s death. “Go to your nearest police station and turn yourself in. The law will be the judge.”
It was revealed earlier that a man claiming to be the driver to the first vehicle was not involved, and was merely looking to become famous.
Shanghaiist reports that, in addition to the universal condemnation of the callousness exhibited by the passers-by who left Yueyue for dead, the tragedy of her demise has also sparked a Good Samaritan meme called “backing up.”
A professor at Beijing Normal University posted a message on China’s Twitter-like social network Sina Weibo, quoting the Vice President of Peking University, who allegedly promised to compensate anyone who is sued for helping people who have fallen on campus. Other universities followed suit, and the meme quickly spread.
While the lack of Good Samaritan protection laws was listed as a contributing factor in the indifference of passersby, the new meme may not be enough to break the bystander effect.
Chen Xianmei, the 57-year-old trash collector who came to Yueyue’s aid, was praised by the little girl’s mother. Others, however, has been less kind: According to China Daily, she has been accused by some of helping Yueyue “merely out of a desire for publicity.”
[ap / shanghaiist: 1,2 / chinadaily.]
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