China: Mother of baby boy stuck in sewer pipe won't be charged

Submitted by Minuteman on Thu, 2013-05-30 04:04

Link here. Excerpt:

'The fall of a newborn baby into a toilet pipe in China was accidental and his mother will not be prosecuted, local officials say, adding the boy is healthy.

The mother, 22 and unmarried, had kept her pregnancy secret and gave birth unexpectedly when she went to the lavatory on Saturday.
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"Our investigations showed it was an accident," a local police officer who declined to be named told AFP, and confirmed the mother will not be prosecuted. She refused to give further details.
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The head of the hospital, Wu Xinhong, said the infant was healthy and ready to be released.

"His condition is good but his relatives have not come to pick him up yet," he told AFP.

Police have said the mother was in serious condition due to complications from the delivery, while authorities were still looking for the baby's father.'

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Mom tries to flush her baby down a toilet, and faces no charges. It was an "accident". But now the police are looking for the baby's father. Did he even know the mother was pregnant? I bet no matter what, somehow, he'll be charged with a crime.

While recently the Chinese have become more accepting (or at least engaged in) premarital sex, traditionally it is considered a big no-no. It's easy for western people to not understand the different pressures on people in countries where such things as public displays of affection can be prosecuted criminally. But even in China where abortion is state-sponsored and encouraged to limit the population, it's fully expected that the woman be married. In this case, she wasn't.

Here's my take: she got pregnant but didn't want to get an abortion because she wasn't married. She was afraid of being shamed for being unmarried and not just obviously having premarital sex but in a country where condoms are abundant, she still got pregnant. She then found a way to hide the pregnancy with abundant clothing. She then birthed the baby squatting over a toilet and flushed him down the toilet, but something went wrong. The baby got stuck and backed up the toilet, and began crying, somehow avoiding death by drowning. This alerted others in the building and now, we're here.

Plot foiled, the crazy rationalizations and scramble to find someone to hang for the whole internationally-embarassing mess begins. Of course, the mother can't *possibly* be held responsible, so who to go after? The baby's father, who may not even know the mother was pregnant. But that won't stop the authorities from going after him. After all, they do it here, too. Why would anyone expect the Chinese to do any different?

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Submitted by Matt on Fri, 2013-05-31 02:44

other reports indicate a man believed to be the father has come forward:

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/china-toilet-pipe-baby-released-to-mother-fathere/148961/

"The man has requested a paternity test and, if the baby is his, is ready to discuss with the woman how to support the child. It is not known if the pair will raise the child together."

If he is the father, he should have full custody if he wants it. Laws should actually encourage and support the father having full or primary custody. The article also mentions that she hid the pregnancy from him.

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Submitted by Kris on Fri, 2013-05-31 02:48