An organizer of a Chinese music festival has canceled an appearance by Thy Blood, a Shanghai-based heavy metal band, after 19-year-old lead singer Li Jiaxin wrote in a post on microblogging platform Weibo that she was raped by the band’s guitarist, Chen Zhe.

Thy Blood was scheduled to appear at the Taihu Midi Festival, which will take place from April 30 to May 2 in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai in East China’s Jiangsu province. Midi festivals, organized by Beijing-based record label 330 Metal Music and the Beijing Midi School of Music, are held in three cities across China.

Li wrote a long post on her Weibo account on Sunday evening announcing that she had decided to quit Thy Blood because she had been raped by Chen. She wrote that Chen raped her after promising to drive her home after a performance on March 25.

Early Monday morning, 330 Metal Music posted on its Weibo account that Thy Blood would not be performing at the Taihu Midi Festival “due to a recent incident.”

In a telephone interview with Sixth Tone, a spokesman for 330 Metal Music said they were concerned that the allegation of a rape would have a negative impact on the festival. Wang Man, the publicity director of the festival, told Sixth Tone that he was informed by 330 Metal Music of the cancelation.

Online, many have voiced support for Li. “She is brave,” said one Weibo user. “We should firmly stand our ground and fight for our rights when such things happen.”

“We are all by your side,” wrote another.

Earlier this month, a video of a woman being attacked in a Beijing hotel had net users wondering how safe China is for women.

This time, part of the commentary has focused on the band’s response.

Li wrote in Sunday’s Weibo post that she told the other band members about the incident on April 11, after she “could no longer tolerate rehearsing with a rapist.” The other band members forced Chen to apologize. However, according to Li, Chen did not consider what happened to be rape and accused her of being prudish.

Shortly after Li’s post, Thy Blood announced on Weibo that they had decided to look for another lead singer because Li had not improved sufficiently since joining the band. The band’s post also said that if the rape were proved, they would expel Chen from the band. In the absence of proof, though, they are considering the allegation a “private matter” between the two band members. The post was later deleted.

Thy Blood was formed in 2001 in Shanghai. They released their last record, an EP titled “Just War,” in 2014. Li joined the band last year.

On Tuesday, the band posted an apology to Li on their Weibo, acknowledging that their initial response had been out of line. They added that they had not been able to contact Chen but had kicked him out of the band.

Chen could not be reached for comment by Sixth Tone. Current band members did not respond to messages, and the record label that produced “Just War” declined to comment.

Li concluded Sunday’s post by saying that she planned to go to the police station the following day. She shared a photo on Weibo of a police station receipt on Wednesday, indicating that the police had accepted her case. She did not respond to Sixth Tone’s requests for comment.

Li wrote that it had taken her some time to speak up because the incident had deeply shaken her, and she was worried about her family finding out. “After it happened, I felt like falling apart,” she wrote.

Additional reporting by Wang Lianzhang.

(Header image: Barry Gnyp/VCG)