There are some things you just don’t do. While most unscrupulous acts can be to some degree justified, those which are morally reprehensible deserve no defence. And stealing from a COVID worker during the execution of their duty unquestionably falls into that category.
It was in the past few days that Mr. Zhao (赵), an epidemic-prevention worker assigned to Nanjing South Railway Station, also known colloquially as “Nanzhan”, had his cellphone stolen.
Zhao had just been doing his job, which was checking the health codes of passengers as they arrive in Nanzhan after alighting from their trains.
Clad in PPE. In this heat. All day long.
Which was when the perpetrator thought to be the best time to help himself to Zhao’s phone, sitting beside his station.
Upon finding his phone missing, Zhao quickly reported the matter to the police.
Law enforcement was then able to access surveillance camera footage and quickly identify the thief via the real-name identity system employed by China Railway for all travelling passengers.
Coincidentally, the suspect was also surnamed Zhao, same character even. With this knowledge, police quickly traced his then whereabouts to a hotel he had checked into in Zhejiang province, he having quickly fled the scene of his crime. Local law enforcement called in the help of their Zhejiang-based colleagues.
Quickly gaining access to the suspect’s hotel room, the police wasted no time in handcuffing Zhao so as to prevent any attempt to interfere with evidence.
Spying a backpack on the floor, a plain-clothes detective addressed the suspected thief; “Where’s the cellphone? It’s in here, isn’t it?”.
Finding the phone therein, the officer continued, “It’s this cell phone, right?”.
At first, Zhao insisted that he had just picked up the phone “at random”. He only admitted the wrongdoing when police showed him the surveillance video.
Zhang Bu, with Nanjing Railway Public Security Bureau’s Nanjing South Station Police Station, spoke with The Paper. He confirmed that Zhao had arrived at Nanjing South Railway Station by train on the day of the crime.
This is one of the advantages to China’s real-name identity system it insists on being implemented across much of society’s main functions. While controversial to some, the system in this case helped apprehend a man guilty of a crime against not just one victim who was only helping to keep the populace safe, but the soul of humanity itself.
