Chinese man caught with mistress gets strapped in a cage and thrown into river

A man from southern China's Maoming city was tossed into the river while tied up in a cage after he was caught cheating with his mistress in the early morning hours last Friday. Footage of the incident has been widely circulated, showing the alleged cheating husband wailing in pain as a mob of men strapped him down in a bamboo type "pig cage."

Police said the man, who has not been identified, is said to be in stable condition. Four suspects have been detained while investigations are being conducted. Three of the suspects turned themselves in the day after the incident.

Footage shared on the Daily Mail showed the man in a state of shock when a group of men barged into the room and caught him nearly naked in bed with a woman. The supposed mistress can be seen in the video wrapped in a towel. The group of men bound the unsuspecting man into a cage with ropes and carried him out of the building and was tossed into a nearby river.

The cheating husband was said to have been rescued out of the water soon after the incident, as local police was alerted. The man was taken to the hospital for examination and found to not have suffered any serious injuries.

The method, which is practised by the Chinese in ancient times, is a form of punishment for the crime of adultery. Loosely translated as "dip in a pig cage," anyone accused of adultery would be tied up and stuffed inside a "cage" to keep them from escaping. From there, they get thrown into a river to drown and die. This was a punishment practised during the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, but was never approved by Chinese laws. Although it has nearly disappeared in recent centuries, it is still used in some rural villages in the country.

There are various theories on the pig cage punishment. It was believed that the method was indeed originally used for transporting pigs, while others say the manner in which an adulterous person is trapped inside the cage makes their value seem less than pigs.

The authorities said the incident was brought about by 'romantic disputes' but they did not go into further details.

Investigations on the case are still underway.