The police said that the parents had agreed to take down the camera. (Representative pic)
A 20-year-old woman in China reported her "control freak" parents to the police after they installed a spy camera in her bedroom. According to the South China Morning Post, details of the parent's spying first emerged on July 26 when the adult daughter, identified as Li, went to the Beijing police station for help. She claimed that her parents installed the camera in her bedroom, and would hit her and throw her phone on the floor every time she made mistakes.
The second-year student told officers that she was running away from her home in another province because she "wanted freedom". She said that the violent parenting has left her suffering from trauma, which is why she planned to find part-time jobs in Beijing to save money and be independent. She went to the police because she thought her parents might report her missing and "make a scene", so she wanted the police to know in advance that she was fine, she said, per SCMP.
Police officer Zhang Chuanbin comforted her and said her parents' behaviour was the wrong way of expressing their care. Mr Chuanbin then contacted the couple and asked them to give their adult child more space and show respect. The police later said that the woman's parents had agreed to take down the camera, and she had returned home.
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Chinese social media was quick to react to the incident and condemn the parents online. "So horrible. Having no private space at all despite being 20," one person wrote. "Children are independent individuals, not parents' belongings - some Chinese parents should keep this in mind," said another.
"Even a prison respects people's privacy more than this," commented a third user. "She was brave to fight back, and wise to go to the police to avoid trouble," said a fourth.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time such an incident has come to light. Previously, a mother in China thanked a surveillance camera for "accompanying" her son for six years. Despite receiving widespread backlash, the mother argued that the camera installed in her son's bedroom was "all for his better study performance and improved his grades".