Guangming Xinqu in Shenzhen

It wasn’t the date that Mr Liang had in mind, but it will surely be among the most memorable.

Instead of the friendly banter and anticipation of a young couple in love, Liang, a gay man, was robbed by his Internet date, a man surnamed Yang, of 20 condoms, two bottles of lubricant and some 20 RMB, Jing Daily, a newspaper under Shenzhen Daily, reported on February 10. One might wonder exactly what kind of date Mr. Liang was hoping for.

The two men apparently met through an online dating website in mid-June last year, and the relationship quickly developed into offline kaifang, a Chinese euphemism for sex. Shortly after, around mid-July, Yang and Liang entered a hostel in Guangming Xinqu, while Lei and Wu, two of Yang’s accomplices, followed them and attempted to blackmail Liang with his relationship to Yang.

Liang refused to cooperate, and the three men instead robbed Liang of his backpack, which contained the condoms, lubricants and RMB, the report said.

Yang was arrested by the police after he was caught pulling the same trick on another unsuspecting man, surnamed Huang, later that month.

The Court found that “…Yang and Lei acted in disregard of state laws and robbed other people’s possessions in a violent and coercive way; that their actions have already constituted robbery.“ 

Yang was sentenced to three years in prison and his accomplice, Lei, was given three and a half years, the report said, citing a recently delivered verdict by the Bao’an District People’s Court.

Unlike Lady Gaga’s bad romance, Liang did not want the drama, or the horror; but, his one-time lover did turn out to be a real-life criminal.

Photo credit: Baidu