‘Torture her and get even’: divorced couple in China filmed fighting over crying son at school gate slammed for neglecting child’s feelings
- Both trying to pull boy away as they yell at each other before man slaps woman’s face
- Fight takes place outside a primary school during after-school pickup rush and was witnessed by other parents collecting their children
A divorced couple filmed fighting over their son while he cries in distress outside a primary school in China has trended on mainland social media and ignited a debate on parenting.
The 15-second video, taken on September 8, showed a woman tightly hugging a young boy with a school bag on his back as she struggles with the boy’s father who tries to pull them apart.
The fight happened in front of a primary school gate in southeastern China’s Jiangxi province during after-school pickup and was witnessed by other parents collecting their children, reported Dawanqu Video.
“Get out of here. Don’t disturb us two. You go live your own life,” the man yelled at the woman.
She replied: “What are you doing? He is my son.”
The man then slapped the woman in the face and said: “Time’s up.”
The video ended just after the woman asked: “What do you mean ‘time’s up’?”
The video has trended online, where many people criticised the parents’ behaviour, particularly the father, and prompted wider discussion about the effect of divorce on children.
“Have you thought of the boy’s feelings? Just let him choose whose home he wants to go to,” said one person on Douyin.
Another said: “Your way of loving the kid by trying to take him away from the other parent will actually hurt him.”
A third observer commented: “This man apparently does not love the boy at all. He knows the kid is the mother’s ‘weak point’, so he grabbed the kid to torture her and get even.”
Stories about warring divorced couples regularly appear online in mainland China.
At a July divorce hearing in eastern China, the husband became enraged and tried to assault his wife. He was later detained for 10 days and fined 5,000 yuan (US$680) for creating a public disturbance.
Earlier this year, a couple tried to grab their toddler child during a divorce hearing in central China. A police officer stopped the fight and subdued the man who had concealed an axe underneath his clothes.
