🔹Photo source: Internet
text/Zhao Bin
Recently, media reported that a Mr. Ye from Qidong City, Jiangsu Province reported that he was bitten by a mouse that ran into the room while singing in a KTV private room. When Mr. Ye negotiated with the manager on duty, the other party said: "The rat is free. If you don't attack it, it won't bite you." Topics related to "Free Rats" have also become hot searches due to heated discussions among netizens.
Mr. Ye and the merchant disagreed on the details of the injury and the issue of liability. What are the facts? What should we do according to the law?
🔹Picture source: Internet
Man and mouse, does it matter who makes the first move?
Zhang Ming, partner and lawyer of Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, said in an interview with China News Service Guoshi Express that according to the provisions of my country’s Civil Code, operators and managers of entertainment venues and other business places and public places must not If you fulfill your safety protection obligations and cause damage to others, you shall bear tort liability. Whether the KTV in the report should bear infringement liability and the proportion of liability will depend on the specific circumstances and evidence.
For example, it was previously reported that a consumer opened the cage to catch the pet in a pet store, despite repeated dissuasion and stops from the store, and was bitten. In this case, the pet shop owner was not found responsible.
Zhang Ming said that judging from the plot currently reported by the media, Mr. Ye was bitten by a mouse that broke into the room during normal consumption at the business premises, that is, KTV, and there was no description of any "out of bounds" behavior.
As for the owner of the KTV who said that Mr. Ye was bitten because he caught the mouse with his bare hands, Zhang Ming said that normal people tend to react instinctively to eliminate obstacles when faced with a sudden appearance of a mouse. In an emergency, Mr. Ye instinctively used There is nothing wrong with using your hands to stop a rat.
The "ownership" of the human-injuring rat needs to be determined?
The owner of the ktv involved said that they hired an outsourcing company to disinfect and exterminate rats on the ktv. On the day, Mr. Ye was bitten. It is difficult to say whether the rat belonged to their store.
Zhang Ming said that the principle of presumption of fault applies to tort liability for breach of safety protection obligations, and the inversion of the burden of proof applies to the proof of fault. In other words, if KTV believes that it is not at fault, it should provide evidence to prove it. If it cannot be proved, it will be presumed that the fault is established and it will be deemed to constitute tort liability. The disinfection company accepts the entrustment of KTV to carry out disinfection activities. This does not exempt KTV from its safety guarantee obligations as an operation manager.
What to do when faced with a "crazy mouse"?
Zhang Ming said that when encountering similar situations, while seeking medical treatment promptly and ensuring the safety of the injured, the injured should also properly retain evidence such as medical invoices, on-site audio, video, and pictures. If the two parties cannot reach an agreement on damages, the injured person can safeguard his legitimate rights and interests through litigation and other means.
Regarding how to compensate, KTV said that it could compensate Mr. Ye for his medical expenses, or it could compensate him by way of free payment. Mr. Ye believes that the risk of disease increases after being bitten by a mouse, and some diseases still have an incubation period.
In this regard, Zhang Ming pointed out that damages are only for damages that have actually occurred and cannot be supported for damages that have not yet occurred. In addition to conventional compensation, the injured person's claim for additional compensation due to the special nature of mice lacks legal basis and is difficult to support. If diseases related to this rat bite occur in the future, the injured person may claim compensation separately.
Source: Guoshi Express
Editor: Qin Jing
Editor: Wei Xi
