Jilted attacker slashes up ex-girlfriend after breakup

A 31-year-old mother of two remained in the hospital Sunday after her ex-boyfriend slashed her more than 20 times with a box cutter Saturday night after she broke up with him, local media reported.

The woman, surnamed Gan, from Sichuan Province, told her then-boyfriend that she didn't want to see him anymore when they met Saturday at the corner of Sanlin Road and Lingyan Road South in Pudong New Area, according to a report in Xinmin Evening News.

The ex-boyfriend, a 38-year-old Hunan Province man surnamed Zhang, refused to accept the breakup. "He hugged me and didn't want to let me go, but I told him that we had no future together," Gan told a news reporter for Shanghai Television Station.

Gan threw a bag of crayfish at Zhang, who then took out a box cutter, according to the report. He cut Gan on her head, neck, back and arms, causing tendon damage to both her hands, local media reported.

She was taken to Shanghai No.9 People's Hospital at 10:30 pm Saturday, where she received 80 stitches, Shanghai Television Station reported.

She was in stable condition Sunday.

Police arrested Zhang at the hospital Saturday.

The couple had known each other since January 2011. Gan told the TV reporter that it was the second time in a month that Zhang attacked her. "He hit me in the head with a padlock on July 17. I got 10 stitches, but I still didn't break up with him," she said.

Gan had been working in Shanghai for five months as a cashier at a local supermarket. She said she had two children and could not afford the 7,000 yuan ($1,100) in medical expenses.

As of Sunday afternoon, several people had offered to help Gan, the Shanghai Television Station reporter posted on his Sina microblog.

The request sparked more than 1,000 comments, including some from posters who thought she should take her two children back to Sichuan Province. They expressed the not uncommon opinion in Shanghai that rural migrants undermine public safety.

Others argued that there was no reason to stereotype the woman just because she was a migrant. "As long as she is in need, there is nothing wrong with offering a helping hand. It doesn't matter where she comes from," one poster wrote.