A five-year-old girl spent International Children's Day in a hospital in China.
The girl, know only as Linlin, was abused by her mother because she refused to address her mother as 'mummy'.
It is believed that Linlin had been living with her grandparents since she was eight months old and had only returned to her mother's home last April.
The mother, Wang Changxiu, 41, was annoyed with her daughter's reluctance to address her accordingly and started beating her every day.
Linlin told reporters last Wednesday from her hospital bed that her mother had hit her everyday with whatever she could get her hands on: "She beat me every day, with her hands, legs, sticks, hangers, bricks."
Doctors said said seven of her rib bones were fractured. The girl also had many lacerated wounds and scars all over her body.
They also added that many other bones in her body had fractured before due to their abnormal shapes.
Dr Ni Daolei told the Chinese press: "She was also found to be suffering from malnutrition." He also added that her condition has stabilised.
The mother, who was seven months pregnant arrived at the hospital later.
She told the reporters present that she has never hit Linlin's siblings, a nine-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy, but resorted to hitting the girl as she refused to recognise her as her 'mother.'
She said: "She ignored me, refused to call me 'mother'. She doesn't love me. See, I have never beaten her sister and brother."
The 41-year-old even added, "They (the injuries) were certainly inflicted by me, I don't care."
It is believed that Wang had punched her daughter, fracturing her rib bones, cut her with a pair of scissors and hit her hands with bricks.
A neighbour, known only as Mr Zhu, reported the mother to the police. He said that the child was abused on a daily basis.
Recalling an incident, he said: "There was one time I saw the mother kicking Linlin until the girl landed outside the house.
"She crawled slowly to the door, and then her mother stepped on her body several times. But Linlin dared not cry."
The neighbour also said that Linlin was not given proper meals: "She ate a little bit in the morning, had no lunch and then ate the leftovers from the family at night," said Mr Zhu.
The mother is currently out on bail, though a lawyer told the press that due to her pregnancy she has immunity.
