BEIJING (The Straits Times/ANN): The police in Beijing have detained three women for spreading online falsities related to the cause of death of Chinese actor Yu Menglong.
The 37-year-old fell from a residential building in Beijing, China, on Sept 11, which sparked widespread speculation and conspiracy theories online.
His management team posted a statement from Yu’s mother on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Sept 16, saying that he accidentally fell from a height after drinking alcohol and that the police had informed her of the findings of the investigation.
The cause of death was also confirmed in a notice posted on the official Weibo account of the Chaoyang branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on Sept 21.
“However, certain individuals fabricated and disseminated false information online to attract attention and boost traffic, splicing together fabricated videos that severely disrupted public order,” said the notice. “The police have initiated an investigation in accordance with the law.”
The Chaoyang police said one of the women taken into custody is a 40-year-old with the surname Zheng.
The netizen, after seeing online reports of Yu’s death, alleged “a big shot tried to take advantage of him, the henchmen set him up, he was forced into drinking and assaulted, then leapt to his death in despair” and posted this on an online forum.
The second woman being detained is a 29-year-old with the surname Yuan, according to the police notice. She...
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