A video of a mentally-ill Chinese mother of eight locked in a village shack and chained around her neck has ignited outrage in the country. The footage, posted last week on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, showed the woman wearing a light layer of clothing despite freezing winter temperatures. A man visiting her then gives her a warm jacket and some food and asks her some questions. She nods or shakes her head in response but her answers are slurred and barely comprehensible. The viral video stirred anger on Chinese social media, with many demanding that authorities step in to help the woman. The outcry promoted Twitter-like Weibo to temporarily remove the relevant hashtag #MotherOfEight from popular search results to downplay negative comments. It also prompted heated speculation that the woman was a victim of human trafficking and forced marriage. “This is trafficking, rape, and captivity,” a netizen wrote on …