The Chinese provincial government of Jiangsu, where the video of a mother of eight chained up in a shed was filmed, said they would “thoroughly investigate the facts,” state TV said on Feb. 17, a move seen as aimed at soothing public outrage toward local authorities. The footage of a dazed-looking middle-aged woman, who stood in the corner of a shed with a chain on her neck and no coat amid freezing temperatures, went viral on China’s social media platforms since it emerged in late January. Appalled Chinese internet users demanded that authorities help her and look into the case. They wondered: Who was the woman? Why was she chained? Under what circumstance did she give birth to eight children? How could they have so many children under the strict one-child national policy? In response, the county and city authorities issued four subsequent reports, with each conflicting with the previous …