A woman in southern China has gone public with raw footage of her husband violently trashing their home after discovering she bought a dishwasher without telling him.
The video, shared on January 8, shows the aftermath of the husband’s outburst after learning his wife had purchased a 1,500-yuan ($215) dishwasher online.
The couple lives in Guangdong province, where the woman said she ordered the appliance because washing dishes by hand during winter had become unbearable.
Highlights
- A Guangdong woman went viral after sharing footage of her husband destroying their home over a dishwasher.
- The husband argued the family could not afford the $215 appliance and ordered its installation stopped.
- Online opinion split between condemning the violence and sympathizing with the husband’s financial stress.
“I needed it because the tap water in winter was too cold for me to wash by hand,” she said.
The case of a husband going on a rampage over his wife buying a dishwasher went viral in China
Image credits: 163.com
The woman, who was visibly distraught in the footage, said her husband does not help with washing up at all. She added that she never anticipated his reaction would escalate into violence.
The conflict came to a head when an installation worker arrived at their rented flat. That was the first time the husband realized his wife had purchased the dishwasher.
Image credits: 163.com
According to her account, he immediately demanded she cancel the order and return the machine.
She refused.
“It is not expensive. We can afford it,” she told him.
The husband argued that the family could not afford the dishwasher due to high water and electricity costs. When he ordered the worker to stop the installation, his wife objected. That objection triggered his rage.
Image credits: 163.com
According to the wife, he began smashing furniture and household items in the living room, leaving the flat in complete disarray. Footage shared by the woman shows overturned furniture and scattered debris throughout the room.
Overwhelmed and frightened, she ran out of the apartment crying and wandered the street for an hour before checking into a hotel, where she stayed alone for the night.
“I really do not understand why he will not allow me to buy the dishwasher. I do not think I have done anything wrong,” she said through tears.
The husband later apologized and pleaded with his wife to give him another chance after she fled to a hotel
In follow-up clips, the woman revealed that the dishwasher dispute was not an isolated incident, as arguments over shopping and spending had become a recurring issue in their marriage.
Her husband works in a city far from their home, earning about 11,000 yuan a month ($1,600), while she stays in their hometown to care for their two children.
Image credits: 163.com
“I guess he does not feel comfortable that I was sick and did not work last year,” she said, adding that her husband is carrying considerable debt.
Despite standing by her reasons for buying the dishwasher, the woman said she returned it the next day. After the return, her husband called her to apologize.
“I am sorry. I was in a bad mood. I will treat you well in the future. We can buy a smaller dishwasher,” he told her in a later video.
By that point, the clips had already spread widely online, drawing millions of views and intense reactions.
Local viewers were divided, with just as many defending the wife as those who sympathized with the husband
Image credits: 163.com
In China, public opinion quickly split. While most viewers focused on the violence itself and pleaded with the woman to leave her husband out of fear for her safety, others sympathized with the husband and his financial difficulties.
“The man is so violent. Divorce him as soon as possible,” one commenter wrote.
“The husband is the sole breadwinner. He is under a lot of pressure, but the wife maintains a high level of consumption. I do not empathize with her,” another argued.
“I am also a woman and a mother. If I were her, I would not buy the dishwasher because of the limits of the family’s financial situation,” a third added.
Image credits: ryanking999/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)
The case also drew commentary from local legal experts. Ke Danni, a family affairs lawyer based in Xi’an, said responsibility existed on both sides.
“They should communicate more. I do not support the woman buying things beyond their family’s financial capabilities without checking with her husband,” she told the South China Morning Post.
Image credits: Fox/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)
At the same time, she drew a clear line regarding the husband’s behavior.
“On the other hand, any form of domestic violence, including smashing things at home, is not acceptable. You cannot wreck home because you are stressed,” she added.
According to a 2022 study by the All China Women’s Federation (ACWF), an estimated 100 thousand families are “destroyed” each year by domestic violence.
"Unstable." Viewers pleaded with the wife to prioritize her safety
