Chinese mother threw six-year-old daughter into lake because she didn’t want to go to school
Child had to be rescued by passing pensioner in Jiangsu province
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 21 April, 2016, 11:51am
UPDATED : Thursday, 21 April, 2016, 12:01pm
Celine Ge
[email protected]
A mother from eastern China has been strongly criticised on social media after she threw her six-year-old daughter into a lake because the child did not want to go to school.
The girl had to be pulled to safety by an 82-year-old man in the park in Nanjing in Jiangsu province, the Modern Express reported.
Police admonished the mother, but have not pressed charges against her, according to the newspaper.
A video circulating on social media showed the unnamed middle-aged woman surrounded by irate onlookers after the incident.
Her daughter is seen sitting barefoot on a bench, with her head down, remaining silent.
“As a mother, you have breached the law,” an unidentified witness told the mother.
The artificial lake in Panchi Park was about one metre deep in places.
The woman had scolded her daughter beside a bridge and kicked her backwards before lifting her and hurling her into the lake, a witness told the newspaper.
Shang Zhiming, who saved the girl, told the newspaper it came as a shock that the woman who appeared to have tried to drown the girl was her mother.
Police officer Fang Hongbing was quoted as saying that it was a rare case and that the mother, who broke down in tears after the incident, claimed her emotions had got out of control.
The family will be closely monitored by the authorities, including the local education bureau, but the mother will not be charged as the child was not injured, police said.
Legal expert Xu Hui told the newspaper that the mother may have breached newly passed laws on domestic violence.
