On Monday, the People’s Procuratorate of Hebei province, where Tangshan is located, said in a statement that 28 people had been prosecuted since the case was opened, including the seven men suspected of involvement in the attack. Prosecutors charged the 28 with committing a series of crimes since 2012, including unlawfully detaining others, wounding with intent, running a casino and robbery. Two of the women suffered “second-degree minor injuries” and were released from the hospital on July 1, while the other two had “minor injuries,” according to prosecutors. Meanwhile, eight police officers and officers were arrested on suspicion of corruption and providing “protection” to the gang, the Hebei Provincial Commission for Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision said in a statement on Monday. They were charged with abuse of power, bending the law for personal gain and bribery, according to the statement. Authorities also sought to dispel long-standing rumors swirling around the case, with Hebei’s prosecutor’s office saying claims that some of the women were sexually assaulted or hit by vehicles in an alley next to the restaurant were “false information.” After the attack, police said in a brief statement that two of the women were taken to hospital and were in stable condition, while the other two suffered minor injuries. In the following days, rumors that some of the victims were in much worse condition than authorities claimed persisted online, despite repeated denials by police and hospital officials. Some have claimed that surveillance video captured only part of the attack and the violence continued off-camera in a nearby alleyway — claims that CNN cannot independently verify. The persistent speculation was fueled by a black hole of information surrounding the victims. None of them — not even their friends and family — had spoken since the attack. On Monday, state broadcaster CCTV released footage of an interview with what it said was one of the victims, who was asked to explain what happened in the alley. “We were beaten by several men. After the beating, they told us not to call the police or ask for help or they would kill us. Then they ran away,” said the woman, whose voice was garbled and whose identity was withheld. . She also denied being run over by vehicles. In the CCTV report, a police officer involved in the case also denied the rumours, adding that the suspects had been in the alley for about one minute and 41 seconds.
