Woman Aggressively Slaps 5-Month-Old To Stop Him from Crying, Police Investigating

A woman was seen aggressively slapping her five-month-old child in a video, circulated on Chinese social media sites.

The accused, identified only with her surname Wang, was questioned by local police after her infant was taken to the hospital by local officials, following the incident.

The incident happened on Christmas Day, when the accused was feeding porridge to the child, sitting in front of her neighbor’s house in Nasi in Qingnan, a city in southern China's Guangxi Province. A witness, who happened to be recording on the phone at the time, caught the mother holding the baby with her left hand as she aggressively smacked him with the right the hand. The person who recorded the clip was not seen stopping her from hitting the infant, Mail Online reported.

The video was uploaded on Chinese social media platforms and quickly went viral. Qingnan police released a statement Friday saying they have launched an investigation into the incident and that a special team was looking into the matter.

Apart from the Qingnan Public Security Bureau, the special team comprised of members of the Nasi Police Station, the government of Nasi town, the Youth League Committee of Nasi town and the neighborhood committee of Wang's village.

As part of the investigation, the police interviewed Wang and her husband regarding the incident. The accused told investigators she was trying to stop her baby from crying when she was feeding him and as a punishment, was hitting him and that she regretted her behavior. Wang’s husband, who was also identified by his surname Deng, claimed his wife had never subjected their infant to any form of domestic abuse in the past.

It was also revealed that the baby was not injured in any way due to the incident.

In a meeting conducted with the couple, the police educated them of the proper behavior to adopt with their baby and Deng assured the authorities that his wife will take better care of the child in the future. Wang also had to write a letter vowing never to beat her baby again.

If a person physically assaults any of his or her family member, the accused in question can be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison, if convicted, according to Chinese law. On the other hand, if the victim(s) is seriously injured or killed as a result of domestic violence, the accused may end up getting up to seven years in jail.

The laws against domestic violence are even stricter in the United States. On Thursday, two women from Georgia are scheduled to appear in the court for their trial after being charged of beating their three-year-old brother to death with a baseball bat when the victim took a cupcake from the kitchen, in 2017.

“The indictment alleges, that on Oct. 21, 2017, LaShirley picked up a baseball bat and struck three-year-old KeJuan Mason for taking a cupcake from the kitchen. According to the indictment, LaShirley used the bat to hit KeJuan repeatedly in the head while Glenndria, the child’s legal guardian, used her hand to spank KeJuan on his bottom; as a result of this attack, KeJuan sustained bruises all over his body, including his legs, back, chest, buttocks, arm, and head,” a statement from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office said.

Glenndria Morris and LaShirley Morris each were charged with two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree in the death of Kejuan Mason. The accused faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.