Father angry child didn't understand maths problem, throws pomegranate; ruptures son's spleen in China

The father apparently lost his cool when his son, who is a student of primary three, failed to understand a math problem.

A father, during a meltdown in the middle of a home tutoring session, hit his son with a pomegranate, resulting in the child's spleen to rupture, reported South China Morning Post.

The man with the surname Chen, from Wenzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, was helping his son with his homework while his wife was working overtime, the publication stated quoting a local media.

He apparently lost his cool when his son, nicknamed Liangliang, who is a student of primary three, failed to understand a math problem.

The father, utterly frustrated over this, lost his temper, picked up a pomegranate from the table and threw it at Liangliang, which hit him in the stomach.

The boy groaned in pain after the fruit hit him but seemed to have no lasting damage at that moment. However, the very next day, he complained of bad abdominal pain and was taken to the hospital. It was then discovered that the boy had a ruptured spleen.

Doctors at the hospital said that spleen ruptures very easily and in some cases it can be life threatening too with the possibility of heavy bleeding. In such cases, the spleen had to be surgically removed.

The father's behaviour caused a great deal of discussion on mainland social media, prompting that one should have more patience as a parent.

The publication further mentioned that causing serious injury due to negligence is punishable by up to three years in prison in China.

The matter is set aside only if the victim and their family do not report the incident and there was no police intervention.

He Bo, a lawyer from Sichuan Hongqi Law Firm, told the publication, “For situations that may be identified as domestic violence or constitute criminal acts, even if the victim or family members do not actively report to the police, once such behaviour is discovered by relevant organisations or individuals, they also have a responsibility to report.”

He added that everyone is equal before the law. Regardless of the relationship between family members, domestic violence is prohibited.

In China, it is common for parents to tutor their children with their homework.

A Chinese Family Tracking Survey stated that parents of Primary One school students spent an average of 7.19 hours a week tutoring homework in the year 2020.

Chinese Language Education Development Report stated that in the year 2020, more than half of the students felt constrained by parental homework tutoring.

The publication further mentioned another similar case that took place in the month of April, where a frustrated mother from Jiangsu province in southeastern China lost her cool while helping her son with homework and tried to kick her son but instead hit the wall and fractured her toe.

Another incident took place in September 2021 where a man from Hunan province in central China lost his temper and got so angry while tutoring his daughter that he dislocated his own jaw.