Outrage in China over woman, 92, kept in pigsty by son
Viral video of woman’s living conditions spark debate on how to provide for country’s rapidly ageing population
Footage of a 92-year-old Chinese woman reportedly kept for years by her son in a pigsty has incited an online firestorm, as China grapples with the question of how to provide for its increasingly ageing population.
The woman, surnamed Yang, was kept in a pigsty by her son and daughter-in-law, who did not provide her with enough food or clothing and constantly beat and scolded her, according to the local Nanguo Morning News based in the southern Guangxi region.
A video of the woman’s appalling living conditions appeared on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo.
“I cannot see things,” said Yang feebly, inching herself towards the bars of her enclosure.
Her son and daughter-in-law claimed Yang had voluntarily moved into the doorless, fence-and-stone-enclosed “kitchen” beside their house, denying that she was kept in a pigsty, the Nanguo Morning News said.