Another “Chained Woman” Exposed: Hunan Woman Imprisoned for 5 Years, Raped, and Gave Birth

A female university student in Hunan was deceived and imprisoned for five years, during which she was raped and gave birth to a child, eventually leading to her mental breakdown. (Video Screenshot)

[October 26, 2024] A female university student in Hunan was deceived and imprisoned for five years, during which she was raped and gave birth to a child, ultimately resulting in her mental collapse. By chance, she was freed from the nightmare, but her life after reappearing was completely different from before she disappeared.

On November 2, The Beijing News reported that a 23-year-old female university student from Changde City, Hunan, using the pseudonym Zhang Ling, graduated from university in 2010. Soon after, a man from the same county, surnamed Zhong, deceived her under the pretense of introducing her to a job, luring her to his home, where he imprisoned her in a small room on the second floor for nearly five years and repeatedly raped her, during which time she gave birth to a daughter.

Zhang Ling’s parents searched for her for a long time without success and eventually reported her missing. In April 2024, the police, through identity information, located Zhang Ling, who had been missing for many years.

In May, Zhong was taken into criminal detention on suspicion of illegal detention, but he was not prosecuted due to the statute of limitations. On May 28, he was arrested on suspicion of rape. On October 15, Zhong was sentenced to 15 years in prison for rape. Only then did Zhang Ling reunite with her daughter.

Deceived and Imprisoned

The now 37-year-old Zhang Ling recalled to The Beijing News how this man named Zhong Peng imprisoned and violated her, and how she later escaped and was taken in by others, staying to live in the countryside.

Zhang Ling’s mother, Deng Jie, and father, Zhang Zhongkai, run a breakfast shop in Changde City, busy from morning until night. After Zhang Ling graduated from university in 2010, she returned to Changde to work as arranged by her family.

Zhang Ling, dissatisfied with her parents' control and wanting to break free from family restrictions to seek a livelihood elsewhere, was deceived by a 50-year-old man named Zhong Peng into going to a rural area.

On the morning of January 22, 2010, at around 7:00 a.m., Zhang Ling left for work as usual. But in the afternoon, Deng Jie did not see her daughter return home. The family checked surveillance footage and found that Zhang Ling had entered her workplace, then later took a taxi alone and left. Her phone remained off.

On the day of the incident, Zhong Peng took Zhang Ling to a yard. There were almost no neighbors around. The iron gate of the yard was locked. Inside was a two-story small building, and all windows were barred with iron. The main door and staircase of the building were also locked. Zhong Peng opened each one in turn and took Zhang Ling to a small room on the second floor.

Zhong Peng’s demeanor suddenly changed. Before Zhang Ling could react, Zhong Peng shoved her inside. She instinctively banged on the door and screamed; her hands swelled, and her voice grew hoarse, but no one responded. As her voice grew louder, Zhong Peng threatened to kill her and bury her in the back hills, saying no one would know.

During this time, Zhong Peng’s wife and daughter knew about it and assisted, not only failing to stop Zhong Peng’s actions but also joining him in verbally abusing Zhang Ling.

Relocation and Marriage: Zhang Ling Transformed

"Since 2010, I was held captive for nearly five years." A turning point came one afternoon in 2014 when Zhong Peng’s eldest daughter unusually allowed her to go downstairs to clean the yard. She tried to escape again, but the prolonged confinement left her unable to navigate the streets; her legs trembled uncontrollably, and she had to hold onto the wall to walk.

Within a few minutes, she was spotted by Zhong Peng’s son-in-law, Lu Ning. He asked his wife who she was and then blamed her, saying, “Imprisoning someone is illegal.” This was the first time Zhong Peng’s carefully hidden secret was exposed to an “outsider.”

Seeing the situation unravel, Zhong Peng transferred Zhang Ling to an elderly man named Xue Dan’s house, where she was taken in by the elderly man. After three years of recovery, she regained her mental health and married the old man’s son, eventually giving birth to a son.

Villagers noticed that this woman, who suddenly appeared, hadn’t left the village in ten years, and no one had ever visited her.

Zhang Ling tried to contact her mother, but the person who answered was a stranger—Deng Jie had changed her phone number. Zhang Ling also went to her family’s previous breakfast shop to inquire about her family’s whereabouts but found no information.

After Zhang Ling’s disappearance, her parents searched everywhere and filed a missing person report, with the police listing her as a missing person.

On April 15, 2024, while registering her son’s residence, Zhang Ling went to Changde, Hunan, to transfer her household registration. The police in Changde, Hunan, found Zhang Ling by cross-referencing the “missing persons” information, finally making her ordeal known to the public.

Upon meeting again after 14 years, Zhang Ling’s mother, Deng Jie, felt that her daughter had changed completely—gained weight, dark-skinned, wearing old clothes and shoes, head down when walking, unable to tell direction, and entirely lacking her previous charm. Her father cried bitterly, “Is this still my precious daughter?”

Her father could not accept this marriage, and her mother also encouraged Zhang Ling to leave her current family. During her five or six days at home, Zhang Ling cried several times, wondering if she could reintegrate into society and leave her fears behind. In her new home in the countryside, she felt respected and had a voice for the first time. Her husband, though older, was honest and considerate. “He listens to me in everything he does.”

This nightmare has completely changed Zhang Ling’s life. Many netizens commented online, believing the punishment was too lenient.

Zhang Ling’s experience is similar to the “chained woman” case in Jiangsu several years ago, which also attracted widespread attention. In Feng County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, in January 2022, a video of a mentally disturbed, chained woman who had given birth to eight children was circulated online, sparking huge public debate. Afterward, multiple local officials were punished, and the individuals involved were sentenced. However, the current fate of the “chained woman” is unknown. She is only known to have been sent to a mental hospital for treatment, and many who attempted to visit her were blocked and even arrested.

Editor: Sun Yun