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China

Father whose wife allegedly beat 6-year-old son, leaving him in a coma, goes missing

Zhao Liang had been released on bail after being arrested along with the boy’s stepmother in northwest China

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Six-year-old Pengpeng has undergone surgery to ease the pressure on his skull from a build-up of blood. Photo: Handout
Tracy Hu

The father of a six-year-old boy whose stepmother allegedly beat him, leaving him in a coma in hospital, has been missing for a month, according to Chinese media.

Zhao Liang had been released on bail after he and his wife, Pengpeng’s stepmother, who was not named by the media, were arrested in the city of Weinan, northwest China, in March, online news portal Red Star News reported on Monday. The woman was arrested on suspicion of child abuse and is still in custody. It was unclear what, if any, charges Zhao was facing.

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Nicknamed Pengpeng, the boy has been in a coma for more than four months after being taken to hospital in March with extensive head injuries, the report said.

He has since had surgery to ease the pressure on his skull from a build-up of blood.

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Pengpeng’s parents divorced in 2015 and he went to live with his father and his new wife. Photo: Handout
Pengpeng’s parents divorced in 2015 and he went to live with his father and his new wife. Photo: Handout

His mother, Chai Xiaoyuan, told the news portal that the boy’s father, Zhao, went missing on July 8 after Pengpeng had been transferred to a hospital in Shanghai.

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