Chinese woman, boyfriend detained for alleged abuse of her six-year-old daughter
- Child suffered multiple fractures, burns to most of her body during three-month ordeal, CCTV reports
- Head of charity appeals for improvements to reporting system to prevent more children becoming victims
The head of a Chinese children’s charity is calling for better legal protection for youngsters after local media reported the case of a six-year-old girl who suffered months of physical abuse at the hands of her mother and the woman’s boyfriend.
Two people from Fushun in northeast China’s Liaoning province have been detained in connection with the case, local authorities were quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV on Friday.
According to the report, the girl suffered multiple bone fractures and burns to large parts of her body over a period of three months between February and May this year, during which time she was also forced to eat cat food.
Her ordeal came to an end only after staff at the hospital she had been taken to for treatment recognised the signs of abuse and suggested to her grandmother that she contact the police.
The grandmother said in the report that the child told her that the mother’s boyfriend was responsible for breaking her arm, but she had been threatened not to tell anyone.
“When a child is hurt by a parent or guardian, that is when they are least able or most afraid to fight back,” Sun Xuemei, founder of the Girls Protection Fund said in an interview.