The case of a woman who killed herself after alleging she was raped by a professor has become a rallying cry ¡°for China¡¯s fledgling #MeToo movement¡±, 20 years on.

Gao Yan, a Chinese literature student at Peking University, ¡°was raped by a professor, her friends and relatives say, and soon after she killed herself¡±, the of the 1998 case.

In recent days, ¡°millions of people have shared Ms Gao¡¯s story online, even as the government has deployed censors to stamp it out¡±, the newspaper adds.

The that Shen Yang, the academic accused of raping Gao Yan ¨C who denies the allegations ¨C had?been fired from jobs at Shanghai Normal University and Nanjing University after the claims came to light.

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Peking University, where he worked until 2012, announced last week that he ¡°had been given a major demerit in 1998 after being accused of having sexual relations with student Gao Yan¡±, the SCMP noted.

Ms Gao¡¯s former classmates brought the case to attention by posting remembrances of her, detailing her allegations.

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Ms Gao¡¯s parents complained to Peking University about the alleged rape in 1998 and it investigated. ¡°However, while it concluded that Shen had engaged in a sexual relationship with Gao and issued him with a demerit, it did not terminate his employment contract,¡± the SCMP?said.

In January, a Beihang University academic was sacked after allegations of sexual misconduct were made by several women.

¡°While the #MeToo movement has struggled to gain wide traction in China, in large part because of the governing Communist Party¡¯s tight control of civil society, universities have proved to be an exception,¡± the NYT?said.

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com