SHANGHAI: A woman in central China who made her two young children sit on an air conditioning unit outside their flat on the 23rd floor just to annoy her husband has been condemned online.
Residents of a community in Luoyang, Henan province, heard the cries of a little girl on the morning of Oct 10 and found her with her brother in the dangerous situation, reported the news website Sohu.
Their mother was sitting on the adjoining windowsill, arguing loudly with her husband and stopping him from approaching the children, according to a viral video shot by a neighbour.
The video shows that the two children were not wearing any protective gear, and the terrified girl was sobbing, while the little boy remained relatively calm.
It is not clear what the couple were rowing about.
A nearby resident reported the incident to the police.
“The firefighting vehicle came and the children were rescued,” an official at the local Women and Children’s Federation said, adding that they were looking into the case.
The police are also investigating the incident. It was not disclosed whether the mother would receive punishment.
The video clip, viewed 55 million times on Weibo alone, received a huge response in China.
“A mother should protect her children. But she put her children in dire danger. She is not fit to be a mother,” one online observer said.
“If an accident happened, she will regret it more than anyone else. Why adopt such an extreme measure? Calm down. If you cannot live with him any longer, just divorce him,” another person wrote.
“This woman is insane and horrible! She should receive serious judicial punishment,” said another.
A fourth netizen criticised the husband: “In this scenario, you should go soft first. You should comfort your wife and persuade her to stop her dangerous behaviour. That is the most important thing to do.”
Stories involving abusive parents frequently make headlines in China.
Earlier this month, a father in southwestern China was detained for using an electric wire to whip his two young sons after they drew on neighbours’ cars.
The boys suffered multiple bruising and soft tissue injuries from the beating, according to the doctors who examined them. - South China Morning Post/ANN
