An impoverished family in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province is in the news today for caging their young son.
Accused of "stirring up trouble all over the place," 12-year-old XIao Wang's hijinks have included dumping neighbors' cloths, shoes and cell phones in the village paddy fields. Once, he even smashed an old lady's cooking pot.
Xiao Wang's father Zhong Kefu reportedly married a "mentally handicapped" woman in the village in 2000, and as Xiao Wang grew up he didn't say anything except "baba" and "mama." Instead, he delighted in tearing up paper, putting things in his mouth and messing with people's stuff.
When he reached the age of seven, Zhong took his son to see a doctor who diagnosed the boy with ADHD as well as "abnormal brain development."
"At the time, the doctor told me that if my son's condition didn't improve by the time he hit 14, he'd be like this his entire life," Zhong remembers.
At first, Zhong simply locked Xiao Wang in his bedroom; but after he smashed the window one night and escaped to get up to no good, Zhong decided to construct the two-square-meter iron cage, which he fitted out with a couple of sponges, a wooden bench and a pot to piss in.
However, Zhong is far from proud of his solution: "I can't bear to treat him this way but the schools won't take him, and if I don't go out and work we'll starve."
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Because of Xiao Wang's condition, his parents were given special dispensation to have a second child - a daughter described as a "normal child" who is now six years old.
Village official Ding Renfan says that "looking after [Xiao Wang] this way is not a long-term plan: once good people in society know what's happening, they'll extend a helping hand."
[Images via Sina]
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