Photo: VCG

Authorities in Yulin city, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province launched an investigation on Tuesday after netizens alerted that a woman was allegedly living in captivity. 

According to netizens, a livestreamer surnamed Li claimed during a broadcast that his wife Xiao Yu was an undocumented woman with unknown origin. 

According to Li, he and Xiao Yu had been living together since 2009. After Xiao Yu attempted to run away many times, Li imprisoned her under deplorable conditions, which netizens described as comparable to the woman in the high-profile human trafficking case in Xuzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province.

According to netizens, Li said during his livestreaming that Xiao Yu had given birth to a boy and a girl that were his. However, Li sold his daughter for 30,000 yuan ($4,758) to someone from a neighboring village. 

Li also displayed the hukou card, the permanent residence permit that he forged for Xiao Yu. The card shows Xiao Yu's birthday is May 5, 1975 and she was registered in May 2019. 

Li's account, with 78,000 followers, was suspended on Tuesday and the videos published in the account were blocked. 

The local police issued a statement on Tuesday on the case of the "caged woman" from Jiaxian county in Yulin who had a miserable life as the woman in Fengxian county, in Jiangsu Province, informing that the culprit was exposed. The authorities in Yulin have attached great importance to the case and have launched a joint investigation.