‘Role model’ rape victim asks public to focus on human trafficker

Gao Yanmin, the female teacher from North China's Hebei province at the center of a public debate after local media cited her as a role model while largely ignoring coverage of her abduction and rape, said people should vent their ire on the human trafficker instead of her and her family, the Global Times learned Thursday. A Global Times reporter went to Xiashan village, Baoding city, Hebei to visit Gao Thursday morning. Gao said she is annoyed by the recent public attention and wants the public to give her peace. "It [the public debate] is harmful. I only want a peaceful, quiet life," Gao said. She explained that several police officers visited her on Wednesday night, claiming that they want to investigate her abduction 20 years ago. The policemen have left right before the Global Times reporter arrived. The visit from the police has shocked her and her family. Gao said her father-in-law has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Gao said he was frightened by the police visit. The police should not investigate her family but the human trafficker, she said. Gao's phone has been ringing and has received tons of messages since Wednesday afternoon, but she has not read any of them, she said, adding that she is worried that the public attention will affect her daughter who will be taking the national college entrance examination next year. "My child has grown up, it is meaningless to talk about the past," Gao explained. Gao has been teaching in Hebei's mountainous Xia'an village following her kidnapping in 1994 from a train station in Shijiazhuang, Hebei when she was 18 years old and sold for 2,700 yuan to a village shepherd. Her story was later adapted into a film, The Story of an Abducted Woman, which was released in 2009, where Gao was portrayed as a devoted teacher. But the story has recently attracted growing criticism for neglecting her ordeal, after the old story was reposted by a commentary on a public account on WeChat entitled "A nation's shame: abducted woman praised as the most beautiful teacher." Gao said her father-in-law is nice to her, despite there was some conflicts at the very beginning. She clarified that she is not angry about his father-in-law but she has been thankful for the fact that he bought her. "I grasped his leg, begged him to help me out from the trafficker. But the human trafficker said I could go only if money was paid. My father-in-law pitied me and paid the money," she said. For the film, The Story of an Abducted Woman, Gao said she has not watched it. "I never watch movie, nor access the internet. I am not familiar with the government policies. I seldom left the mountain. All I want is a peaceful, quiet life where no one would harm my family," she said.