Chinese man who chained, abused woman sentenced to 9 years

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court has sentenced a man to nine years in prison for abusing and unlawfully detaining a woman who was shown chained in a viral video that sparked an outcry in China last year. The abuse of the woman, “Xiaohuamei,” or Little Plum Blossom, raised widespread concerns in China in February last year and at times overshadowed Beijing’s Winter Olympics online. The court in Xuzhou city said Dong Zhimin and his late father bought Little Plum Blossom in the late 1990s and that he had abused her in recent years by chaining her around the neck. That was despite him fathering eight children with her. The court said Dong’s abuse caused serious health problems and she suffered from mental disorders.