Police identified the prime suspect in the attack as “Chen”, saying he or she “recklessly used violence to commit evil”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Following the attack Tangshan authorities sacked the city’s deputy police chief and 5 other police officers, and also launched a crackdown against organised crime.
Discussion associated with feminism has grown in the nation despite pressure from the patriarchal society, popular censorship and patchy legal support pertaining to victims.
But viral online works slamming the strike as symbolic from the country’s larger issue of gender-based assault were censored.
Two women were hospitalised following the incident and two others sustained minor accidents, authorities said.
Women’s rights campaigners say domestic abuse remains pervasive and under-reported in China, while prominent feminists also face regular police harassment plus detention.
Local journalists who journeyed to Tangshan to seek information about the sufferers were harassed, intimidated and even detained, according to the United States-based Panel to Protect Journalists.
In early August, a Tangshan man allegedly killed his girlfriend by repeatedly working her over with his car in wide daylight.
Monitoring footage of the occurrence sparked widespread outrage online before being censored.