中国正在研究新法律 以保护受虐待儿童

In the wake of a series of child abuse cases last year, China is to roll out a legal mechanism to deprive abusive or negligent parents of their custody rights. Currently, Chinese law does not specify situations where parents should lose guardianship of their children.

The cases are grisly. In June last year, two young girls starved to death in their home in Nanjing. At the time, their father was in jail for dealing drugs, while their mother was without identification papers since leaving her home at the age of 16. Both were incapable of taking care of their two girls.

Last November, five boys were found dead in a garbage container in southwest Guizhou province. Investigations showed they were burning coal inside it to stay warm, but later died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Their parents were migrant workers employed far away from home. They rarely communicated with their children.

Also in Guizhou, the case of an 11-year-old girl who had been abused by her very father for five years made headlines last year. Her father confessed to sprinkling boiling water on her hair to remove lice.

"When these cases happen, local governments should file a lawsuit against parents. I think this is the first important step." Tong Lihua with Beijing Youth Legal Support Center said.

Tong Lihua says if parents are to lose guardianship of their children, the court must specify who will take care of them. But a legal vacuum makes that close to impossible...

"The idea of removing custody was put forward in the 1987 civil law. But right now no organization, including neighborhood committees, can be entrusted with caring for children. So when the law is amended, I think this reality should be taken into consideration. I think only very serious cases should require parents losing custody of their kids." Tong said.

An "under-age intervention mechanism" is still being drafted, and relevant regulations are set to roll out by the end of this year to fix this legal loophole once and for all.