A kindergarten teacher has been detained after a 3-year-old boy hung to death in her classroom in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.
The boy, Gao Chenxi, reportedly suffocated yesterday after his clothing got caught on the grating of a classroom window, causing him to hang in the air.
The child's teacher, Liu Xiaoling, had allegedly beaten him on the head with a plastic stick before he ran away from her toward the window, police said.
An autopsy showed scrapes on his head that suggested his teacher beat him, police said.
Liu has been detained for "intentional injury resulting in death", police said.
According to the country's criminal law, the charge carries a minimum jail sentence of 10 years and a maximum death sentence.
Local media reports said the boy's parents are demanding compensation of one million yuan from the kindergarten, which has already been closed. The two sides have not yet reached an agreement.
Police said yesterday it is still unclear how the child choked - whether he was suffocated by his clothes hooked to the window, or by a "sticky fluid" found in his throat during the autopsy. The cause behind his choking might affect the penalty being meted out, they said.
"We've sent the liquid to Shanghai for testing and will release the results later," said an official surnamed Hu from the Zhenhai police department.
Liu earlier told police the boy was found in an unattended storeroom instead of the classroom, and that the incident had happened "within one minute" - from the time she beat the boy to his being taken down from the window.
But she later admitted it had happened in the classroom under her charge, and that she had lied to escape her responsibility.
Police also found that Liu did not take action to save the child until his lips turned blue from lack of air.
Questions:
1. How old was the infant who died at the preschool?
2. In which province did the tragedy occur?
3. According to the police, how did the child choke?
Answers:
1. Three years old.
2. Zhejiang.
3. They are not sure yet – and are still investigating.
(英语点津 Helen 编辑)
Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.
He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the