YUNNAN • Thought getting caned was bad? A father in China punished his 12-year-old son by stripping him naked, tying his hands with a rope to a motorcycle, and dragging him through the streets of Yunnan last Friday.
Video footage of the duo being confronted by outraged passers- by has gone viral, reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
In the video, the boy, covered with cuts and bruises, can be seen shaking from the cold in the rain.
People can be heard berating the father, who later attempts to remove his jacket and give it to his son after the angry crowd orders him to do so.
However, the boy gets agitated and pushes the jacket back to his father, shouting at the crowd to stop talking. A man can be heard repeatedly asking the father if the boy is his biological son, which the father confirms. The onlooker then demands to know why the father abused his child so badly.
According to SCMP, the father defended his actions by saying he was punishing his child for stealing 100 yuan (S$20) from the family, and for spending the previous night playing outside and skipping school.
SCMP cited a report from local news portal Yunnan.cn, adding that the father admitted to regularly beating his child for being "frequently naughty".
The father, who was reported to be a migrant worker from Guizhou province, later untied his son and sat him on the motorcycle before driving away.
Local police said they are investigating the incident.
Timothy Goh
