Voice recordings back up sex claims against Beihang professor
An alleged victim of sexual harassment posted new evidence on social media on Tuesday — including sound recordings — to prove the accusations against a Beijing professor.
Chen Xiaowu was suspended by Beihang University on Monday over accusations of sexual harassment from former doctoral student Luo Qianqian. Several other of his students have also come forward.
Luo posted that one of the victims provided 12 sound recordings she made in order to protect herself during two years of being sexually harassed by Chen.
On the recordings, Chen asks the female student to have a relationship with him and live with him. He also attempts to kiss her, but is rejected, Luo said.
Luo posted a screenshot of the 12 recordings but did not release them to the public. She said she had handed over the evidence to the university's discipline inspection commission.
According to Luo, Beihang University told her that a preliminary comparison found the recordings have a high similarity to Chen's voice, but further technical appraisal is needed for confirmation, Luo said.
The university said in a statement on Monday that it is taking the accusations against Chen seriously and that a work group has been set up to investigate the case. The discipline inspection commission did not answer calls from China Daily on Tuesday.
After Luo's first post began to circulate on social media, at least five alleged victims and many alumni joined her to collect evidence, including one who told Luo that Chen impregnated a student.
Chen asked the student to stay quiet by giving her a large sum of money borrowed from friends, according to screenshots of chat records posted by Luo.
Luo said she kept silent 12 years ago because her parents thought it was disgraceful and she might lose her chance of a postgraduate recommendation.
She said Chen complained about his sex life with his wife and attempted to have sex with her. He hesitated when she told him she was still a virgin and begged him not to do anything, Luo said.
The alleged victim said Chen, her deputy supervisor, told her not to tell anyone about what happened and said it was a test of her moral conduct. She said she became depressed and relied on anti-depressants to get through the day when her relationship with Chen soured.
Luo now lives in the United States. She said she finally decided to come forward after hearing about the #MeToo campaign in the US, which encourages people to speak out about sexual harassment.
In October, she identified at least five female students from Beihang University who also claimed they were sexually harassed by Chen. They formed a group, and Luo started to collect evidence. She later published an article on social media to share their stories.
China Daily was unable to contact Chen for comment. However, on Monday afternoon, he told Beijing Youth Daily he had heard about the accusations on social media and denied he has done anything to violate the law or discipline rules.
He said people should wait for the conclusion of the university's investigation.
Hope they can find justice!
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