A wave of pity has hit mainland social media after a husband in China killed himself on discovering that his nurse wife was having an affair with a doctor she worked with.
The sad plight of the 26-year-old man, surnamed Wang, was revealed by his mother in an online post.
His wife’s employer, the Litongde Hospital in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, said it had suspended both the nurse and her lover.
Wang’s mother said on Weibo that her son committed suicide in a hotel room on August 2.
He discovered the love affair of his wife, surnamed Mao, and a thoracic surgeon, surnamed Liu, whom she worked with, three days before his death.
He stumbled upon messages between Mao and Liu while transferring data from her old phone to a new one he had just bought her. The messages revealed the pair were having sex.
Wang and Mao began dating as freshmen at the same university in 2019, and were married in January this year. Wang’s mother said Mao’s affair started in May.
At first Wang thought the relationship might not be consensual and that his wife might have been raped.
But when the police told him that his wife was not a victim, he had a mental breakdown.
Mao asked for Wang’s forgiveness, and they went to a tourist resort, where they used to date in an attempt to sort things out.
Wang left a suicide note for Mao on the night of August 2, thanking her for “spending my best years with me” and telling her, “I will love you even after I die”.
He said he could not “get past her betrayal”.
Mao saw his message in the morning and went to his room, where Wang tried to strangle her but gave up not wanting to hurt her.
He then kicked her out of his room and took his own life.
Mao tried to contact him by phone message, saying in one text: “I only want you to live, even if you don’t want to see me anymore.”
She then discovered it was too late.
Wang’s mother said her son grew up in a single-parent family and married his first love despite his family’s objections.
Online observers pitied the man and said he should have cherished his own life more.
“He shouldn’t have punished himself for the faults of others,” one person said on Douyin.
“Break up if your partner betrays you, and everything will be fine over time,” said another.
If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, dial +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services. In the US, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page
