A Chinese social media influencer died on Wednesday, 30th September after being set on fire by her estranged ex husband while shooting a live streaming video on Douyin, a Chinese version of TikTok.

Local media reports have revealed that Lamu, 30, suffered 3rd degree burns on 90% of her body and died in hospital last Wednesday, two weeks after the incident.
She had garnered over hundreds of thousands of followers on the social media platforms and was a fan favourite for her happy posts on rural life and was praised for not using make up in her videos, which had millions of likes.

On the said day of the incident – 14th of September, Lamu was attempting to start a live stream when her phone screen suddenly went black. Her followers were startled when the incident was followed by screaming sounds.

According to state-media outlet the Beijing Youth Daily, her ex husband, only identified as Tang had gained entry into the house armed with a knife and petrol can. He doused her in petrol before setting her on fire.

The two had a long history of domestic fights.

Lamu reportedly divorced Tang earlier this year in May. She remarried him shortly afterwards when Tang had threatened to kill one of their children if she did not remarry him.

Lamu remarried him only for a short time but ended up running away from him because of his abusive behaviour.

Before the gruesome incident, Lamu had tried going through Chinese courts to officially divorce Tang, but the police had taken no action on the matter.

It seems Tang finally found out where Lamu was now living with her two kids – and killed her for not remarrying him.

The incident has sparked a conversation on the Chinese justice system when it comes to divorce issues.

Chinese courts are very reluctant on issues of divorce.

Earlier this year, China introduced a new 30-day “cool-off” period before couples are granted a divorce, to allow both parties time to rethink their decision. But this has sparked some concern that victims of domestic abuse could be coerced during that period to reconsider.