ADDICTION, comes in many forms, be it alcohol, shopping, drug, nicotine, or even video games.
Like any addiction, a gambling addiction can create significant problems in a person’s life, to the point of even hurting one’s loved ones.
One man in China took his gaming addiction to a heinous level when he physically abused his wife for money to fuel his addiction.
According to South China Morning Post, the woman, known as Lao Chunxue, 28 met her husband, Xie, 30, through a relative, just two years ago.
Throughout their relationship, the couple would have frequent arguments over Xie’s gaming obsession, but Xie treated her with care, hence, she accepted his marriage proposal. After getting married, the couple relocated to Henan province in central China in search of employment but struggled.
It was then Xie’s gaming habit took a turn for the worse and he turned to Lao to fund his addiction.
On March 19, 2023, he demanded 10,000 yuan (RM6,061) from Lao but she said her own funds had depleted.
Furious, he began punching her, causing her nose to bleed. He even hit her with a frying pan. Thankfully, Lao’s cousin intervened during the fight, where he found Xie strangling her with a pair of pyjama bottoms.
She was rushed to the hospital where she was admitted in the ICU and spend three months in a coma.
Due to the intracranial bleeding, she was diagnosed with optic atrophy which blinded her permanently. She also suffered other injuries which left her unable to fend for herself.
“Seeing our daughter like this felt like a knife cutting our hearts,” her parents were quoted as saying.
Her family has since spent hundreds and thousands of yuan, even to the extent of mortgaging their home, unfortunately, doctors have declared that damage to her optic nerves is irreversible.
To make matters worse, Lao discovered her husband had secretly transferred her car into his mother’s name.
To date, Xie’s family had only contributed 36,000 yuan (RM21,819) to her medical expenses following police intervention.
Xie was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Aug 30 and ordered to pay 657,000 yuan (RM398,000) to Lao.
Lao’s parents are currently appealing the decision, hoping to seek a life sentence for Xie.
The case has since sparked outrage online in China, with many netizens expressing disbelief and questioning the leniency of his sentence.
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