An 11-year-old Chinese girl is recovering well in
hospital after years of appalling abuse by her father. (Warning: this
story contains content some may find distressing.)
Xiao Li was found walking alone on a street in the town of Shichang in China's south-western Guizhou Province on May 8.She had suffered years of physical abuse by her father. The details of the abuse and her injuries shocked doctors at the hospital where she is being treated.
"She suffered scalp burns and was bald when police officers brought her in," Tang Yongtian, the chief of the local health centre told China's Xinhua news agency.
Xiao Li had been abused by her father from the age of five. According to confessions her father has reportedly made to police, he has admitted a string of horrendous crimes against his daughter.
Hospital officials say her mouth had been partially stitched up with fishing cord, her skin had been pierced with sewing needles, she had been forced to kneel on a floor covered with broken glass and her head had been dipped into boiling water.
"All of the bruises and wounds came from my father's beatings. He often forbade me (from) meals," the young girl is quoted as saying.
Xiao Li has now been transferred to the Zunyi Medical University Hospital where she is responding to treatment.
Detailed examinations of her body have revealed signs of severe malnutrition which had caused oedema in her feet.
Xiao Li has told doctors that her head no longer hurts but that her feet ache.
Her father, named only as Yang has been arrested and is being detained at a local police station.
According to Li Guanming, the deputy chief of the local legal affairs office, Yang has confessed. Mr Li said that a combination of evidence, testimony from the child and a confession from the father leave no doubt that he is the abuser.
Neighbours in the village have revealed that they knew about the abuse but felt unable to do anything about it.
"He beats the girl every two or three days. We criticise him for being so cruel. He growls back 'none of your business'," a villager called Tao Wenhui said.
The child's mother is understood to have fled the village. She has not yet been found.
Xiao Li will receive psychological treatment when she is discharged from hospital.
Source
Yahoo News
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