Two British women stuck in China after argument at Guangzhou shop

Months after a slipper deal turned into a violent row at a Guangzhou shoe merchant, two London women remain stranded in China in legal limbo.

Guangzhou at Night. Photo by Ian Wallace.
Guangzhou at Night. Photo by Ian Wallace.

Two tourists from the United Kingdom have found themselves in a “complex criminal investigation which could see them stranded in China for up to a year.”

The women, Mary Idowu and Esther Jubril-Badmos, travelled to Guangzhou for a week of shopping in June when they were involved in an altercation with a vendor over a 500 RMB deposit paid for what they claim turned out to be counterfeit slippers. Idowu, 59, and Jubril-Badmos, 48, allege that they were then assaulted by staff of the shop.

Both Britons were detained for “provocation and disturbance of peace,” and after 32 hours of interrogation they were sent to a local detention centre. After six weeks, the police indicated it was civil matter, but despite paying the shopkeeper 45,000 RMB to settle the case, cancelling their bail has been refused.

As the bail’s cancellation is a requirement to exit the country, the two are now stuck in China until the criminal investigation is complete — which could take up to a year. Malcolm Moore, from the Telegraph, quoted Jubril-Badmos as saying, “I have a five-year-old daughter at home who does not understand why her mother has abandoned her. My world has collapsed.”

Read the whole story.

Discussion

4
  1. Aha they are blacks. That makes all of the difference in the world. It is a shame but the Chinese are not to fond of them. Also look at those two mugs, I am sorry to say they do not put forward a likable picture.

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