A man took a woman hostage at a Shanghai metro station on Monday night, saying he wanted to be taken to jail.

The incident occurred at around 9 pm when a man took a young woman hostage at knifepoint at the Shanghai South Railway Station, a netizen named Jiazi Xinjia said at his or her Sina micro blog account on Monday.

"The young woman was crying and her eyes were red," said the netizen.

The woman was saved by a local resident, and the man was taken into police custody, local news portal Xinmin.cn reported.

The man claimed that he hadn't eaten for two days and wanted to be imprisoned.