SCMP reported on an incident that caused outrage on Chinese social networks, when a man forced his three small children to kneel in the middle of a crowded street to pressure his ex-wife to return to him.
The incident happened on the evening of August 15 in Foshan city, Guangdong province (China). Accordingly, a police officer on patrol discovered three children kneeling on a large road with many vehicles passing by, while the father sat leisurely next to a nearby flower bed and watched.
According to Southern Metropolis Daily , all three children are under 7 years old, the youngest is only 2 years old.
The police quickly took the children to a safe place and warned the father. Luckily, the children were not injured.
The father in the above story was identified as Mr. Ling, 30 years old. This man said he could not contact his wife after an argument. According to this person, he forced his children to kneel in the middle of the road in the hope that this would make his wife react and come back.
It is known that his wife returned to her hometown after deciding to separate and refused to contact him.
The incident attracted great attention on Chinese social media, with more than 63 million views on the Weibo platform. Many social network users expressed outrage and criticized the father's behavior.
"It's shameful and hateful that a father doesn't know how to love and take care of his children," one Weibo user commented.
"Using children as hostages like this is child abuse and a violation of children's personal safety," said another.
On August 16, the Foshan city government announced that Mr. Ling and his three children had left the city and returned to their household registration, but did not disclose the specific location.
In China, minor violations of children's rights can result in up to five days of detention or a warning. This incident once again rings the alarm bell about extreme parenting methods or bringing children into bondage in adult love affairs.
