Chinese vlogger set on fire by ex-husband in middle of livestream, dies after 2 weeks

A 30-year-old Chinese vlogger died on Wednesday (Sept 30) after being set on fire by her ex-husband while doing a livestream two weeks earlier. 

The woman, named Lamu, had more than 885,000 followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

She became popular for filming videos of her daily life in the rural mountainous regions of China's Sichuan province.

Clips typically show her foraging in the mountains, cooking and lipsyncing to songs dressed in traditional Tibetan clothing, reported AFP. 

The incident on Sept 14 triggered outrage across social media on the issue of domestic violence.

Followers of her livestream account said they saw the screen go black before hearing screams.

Beijing Youth Daily reported that Lamu’s ex-husband allegedly broke into her house and held her down with a knife, before pouring gasoline over her body. 

The man, surnamed Tang, was said to be angry after Lamu initiated a divorce for the second time and had a history of domestic violence. The couple have two sons.

Lamu suffered burns to 90 per cent of her body, with netizens raising about one million yuan (S$200,900) for the family following the attack. 

In Lamu’s last video posted on the day of the attack, she was seen performing a traditional Tibetan song to thank her fans.

candicecai@asiaone.com