Wuhan court upholds dismissal of campus sexual harassment case

The Wuhan Intermediate People's Court upheld the first-instance judgment in a case concerning liability for sexual harassment damages involving two students from Wuhan University, according to a statement from the court's website on Saturday.

According to a statement, on July 25, the People's Court of Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone dismissed all claims brought by Yang. However, Yang appealed the decision to the Wuhan Intermediate People's Court.

After conducting a closed-door trial, the intermediate court found that the first-instance judgment had clearly established the facts, correctly applied the law and should therefore be upheld.

On Wednesday, the court rendered its second-instance judgment to dismiss the appeal and affirm the original ruling.

In June 2024, Yang, a female student at Wuhan University, filed a civil lawsuit against Xiao, a male student from the same college, accusing him of masturbating in public. She sought a public apology from him, to be published for 15 days in a newspaper, along with compensation of 5,000 yuan ($702).