A Hunan province teenager could no longer bear the constant beatings inflicted by his father, so he fed rat poison to him, his mother and sister last month.
The trio were only saved by rapid medical intervention.
The China Youth Daily yesterday recounted the story of the Li family, from Hongshi township in Hengyang county, saying such domestic violence was common, with 47 per cent of parents in rural areas of Hunan regularly beating their children.
The Li family sat down to dinner on the evening of April 26. The son, 15, said he was not feeling well, drank a little soup and went upstairs. His mother, father and younger sister ate the food and soon felt unwell, too. They alerted a neighbour, who helped them get to a nearby hospital. Doctors found they had consumed rat poison and would have died within 30 minutes without treatment.
The son confessed to police next day. 'My father beats me, he does not treat me like a person,' the boy said. 'I wanted to take revenge. I did not think it would turn out like this. When I saw my parents and sister eat the poison, I felt fearful but did not dare to stop it. Only after I saw them poisoned did I feel regret.
'From the time I entered junior secondary school when I was 12, he often beat me. I could not bear it. I told him so but he did not listen. I did not know that giving poison was against the law. I do not hate my father,' he said, tears pouring down his cheeks. The youth later tried to kill himself in the detention centre but was saved by police.
