File photo shows the Alibaba employees entering the company in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.Photo:Xinhua

Police in Jinan, East China's Shandong Province have launched a probe into a sexual misconduct case involving a female employee working at Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who reported she was sexually assaulted and raped by a senior employee during a business trip.

The firm's response came after Chinese social media was ignited after the claim-to-be victim alleged online that during a business trip to Jinan on July 27, a senior colleague, surnamed Wang together with Zhang, an employee from Jinan Hualian Supermarket, had forced her to drink to excess and that Wang had gone on to rape her while she was drunk at a hotel.

The sexual allegations pushed Alibaba to the forefront of public comment starting from late Saturday. At least eight most read stories on Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo are related to Alibaba. One of the hashtags "Alibaba" has garnered nearly 2 billion views over the weekend. 

Amid public opinion brewing online, Alibaba's CEO Zhang Yong, also known as Daniel Zhang, replied that he was "shocked, angry and shameful" over the scandal. He vowed to fully investigate the case, with its results to be made available to all Alibaba staff. 

Alibaba has a zero-tolerance policy against sexual misconduct and has established an  internal task force to investigate the issue, Alibaba told the Global Times on Sunday. 

It said the accused employee had been suspended, and the company will fully cooperate with local police.  

According to The Beijing News, the independent investigation team within Alibaba believed relevant leaders and HR showed a lack of empathy and misjudged the most appropriate course of action. Apart from Wang, another four employees were also suspended from work while the investigation remains ongoing. 

Police in Jinan said on Sunday that the investigation of the sexual misconduct case involving Alibaba employees is underway, and the result will be made public at the earliest available opportunity.

However, before any authorities revealed the truth, a lot of netizens weighed in on social media commenting on the controversy. 

The drinking culture at workplace especially internet companies was targeted. Some said the core of the drinking culture is to persuade or force people to drink, which is a form of bullying and should be banned.

Some say the allegations if true trample over the company's core values, which have played a key role in company operations, employee performance review and recruitment. Its core values places "customer at the first, employees the second and shareholders the third" place.

Many also criticized Alibaba for its slow response to serious allegations. Some said they were surprised that as one of the most influential internet companies in China, Alibaba appears to not have a department to deal with employee misconduct. Zhang Yong's reply also did not quell down the doubts from netizens targeting Alibaba. 

The 8,000-word long self-exposure posts from the allegedly victim on Saturday comes two weeks after the allegedly sexual assault and rape occurred on July 27, and also six days since the woman firstly reported her experience to her upper management but received no meaningful response. The female employee said she wanted the company to immediately dismiss Wang.

In an attempt to get noticed and receive a response , the woman had also posted her experience to their company's group chat and once took louder speaker and sent out flyer in canteen of Alibaba in Hangzhou, according to her posts. 

Observers said this incident is a huge blow to Alibaba's reputation but the case should not cause severe legal responsibility against the company. After the incident, Alibaba should rethink how to reestablish its image as a responsible company. 

According to the posts wrote by the claim-to-be victim, she accused Wang of forcing her to drink to excess during  a business meal with Zhang and several others on July 27 in Jinan. She alleged that after she lost consciousness Zhang firstly sexually assaulted her at table and brought her to a room where she was further assaulted.

She claimed that she watched the surveillance in accompany with police and learned that her superior Wang entered  her hotel room four times and is suspected to have raped her after she lost consciousness.

According to the woman, Wang was a team leader from northern China department of Taoxianda, which is a food distribution platform affiliated with Alibaba. 

On Sunday, Jinan Hualian Supermarket released a statement amidst controversy, saying it had suspended the relevant employee and started investigation. However, Zhang the suspect was quoted by Chinese media Wuhan Chenbao on Sunday, denied he had acted inappropriately with the woman.

Mao Lixin, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the Global Times if what the woman alleged was true, Wang was suspected of forcible indecency or rape and Zhang was suspected of forcible indecency.

China's Criminal Law stipulates that rape carries a term of imprisonment of between three years and 10 years. Those who abuse others or insult women by force, coercion or other means face five years in prison or criminal detention, the law says.