Beijing: Many in China are calling for stronger child protection laws after a young boy jumped from a fifth floor apartment to escape from his abusive mother.
The incident that had taken place on June 25 in Anhui province in eastern China shocked the entire nation.
The 6-year-old jumped out an external air-conditioning unit of a residential building as he was beaten with a stick from inside the house, South China Morning Post (SCMP) said.
Many people including the man who recorded the video that went viral were heard pleading with the mother to stop beating the child.
The boy wouldn’t wait for their appeal to take any effect on the mother and jumped.
The boy, whose name is revealed as Yan, was living with his mother as his father was away working in another city.
The footage has been viewed more than 10 million times on China’s social media platform Weibo.
The boy suffered several bone fractures but does not have any life threatening injuries and is getting care in hospital.
Mother was beating the child to ‘persuade’ him to go back from near the window fearing he might fall, police reportedly said.
Many Weibo users said the official version of the incident was a ‘cover-up’ after a member of All-China Women Federation claimed the mother was ‘ bluffing’ with the stick.
One Weibo user was quoted as saying, ‘He was more afraid of his mother than jumping.’
Another user said ‘People were already screaming 'stop hitting him' downstairs, and the mother still didn't stop. I don't understand.’