A Chinese boy is fighting for his life after his mother forced him to drink petrol and then set him on fire.
Authorities
said the four-year-old was abused then torched in a grotesque plot by
his mother to get revenge on her husband who she felt was not treating
her with the 'proper respect'.
The tragedy happened in the city of Jinhua in Zhejiang province in the east of China.
Neighbours said that the woman and her husband were frequently arguing about money.
The woman, 40-year-old Shen Dan, and the man, 48-year-old Zhang Qiusheng, were both divorced and had then married each other.
Before their marriage, Zhang lived with her daughter, Zhang Mengting, who is a college student now.
A Chinese boy fights
for life in intensive care after allegedly being forced to drink petrol
and then set alight by his mother after arguing with her husband that
she wasn't being treated with respect
Authorities said the
four-year-old (pictured before the attack) was abused then torched by
his mother to get revenge on her husband.
But the two were always rowing about money. At the start of this month the woman - after a particularly heated argument - had left the apartment to return with a can of petrol.
She had then tried to force her son to drink it but had only been partially successful as the boy had tried to fight once the first sip had gone into his mouth.
The boy's father Zhang
Qiusheng (pictured) was also badly burnt after he tried to intervene
when the mother reportedly dragged his son towards a naked flame on the
stove
'I hope I never have to see her again': Zhang Qiusheng suffered 15 per cent burns over his body
As his father
tried to intervene, she dragged the boy towards the naked flame on the
gas stove, spilling petrol over all three of them - and they then all
caught fire.
Despite the
burns, the father rushed with the boy into the living room where he
wrapped his head in a blanket to extinguish the flames. The boy is now
in intensive care.
Doctors
say the boy has 35 per cent burns mainly over his head, but also that
his lungs had been badly damaged from the petrol and the flames.
Even if he survives they say he will almost certainly not be able to speak and will most likely be blind.
The woman and her husband were also hospitalised with 15 per cent burns over their body.
The woman faces criminal charges once the police investigation is complete - but for Zhang his world has ended.
He
said: 'I just can't understand it, she had disputes with me about money
and she was so furious and angry that she felt the need to lash out by
injuring that which was most important to me - my darling son. He's her
son too, I just don't understand it.
'I hope I never have to see her again - I will certainly be getting a divorce soon as I can get out of here and find a lawyer.'
Daily Mail
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