A video grab shows the man slaps the deliveryman.
(ECNS) -- A cyber manhunt following a taxi driver smacking a courier in Beijing during a small accident has turned out to cause harassment and threat to innocent people, China Central Television (CCTV) reports.
On the morning of April 17, a courier was smacked by an outraged cabbie after the deliveryman's tricycle accidentally scraped a black taxi in a residential complex of Beijing's Dongcheng District.
The taxi driver, surnamed Li, was later detained by police, while a netizen posted a video of the incident online the same day, which was quickly circulated and sparked heated debate.
An online manhunt was soon initiated, and some private information, including the name, address, phone numbers and occupation supposed to be Li's, was posted on the Web.
However, CCTV's follow-up report found that the apartment made public online was owned by a man surnamed Guo. He said he bought the property in March and that Li had moved to a new place long ago.
After the video was released, some ill-boding goods like shrouds and hell banknotes have been delivered to his house, Guo added.
He told CCTV that his family members had been harassed and threatened since the video was posted.
According to a report by Beijing Youth Daily, several phone numbers that were believed to be Li's were made public, yet in fact one number beginning with 186 was owned by a man surnamed Rao in east China's Jiangxi Province.
Rao said he had received more than 800 harassing text messages and threatening calls from across the country by the afternoon of Tuesday. He had kept the phone number for four years and was now forced to apply for a suspension of services.
Han Xiao, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the paper that those who launch online manhunts and expose other people's private information may have to bear civil or even criminal liabilities in accordance with Chinese law. Those who write threatening letters or bully others are subject to detainment no longer than 10 days and fines no more than 500 yuan, it was added.
