By our reporter Guo Yi In the dead of night, a middle-aged man ran into the Children's Hospital of Harbin hugging a five-year-old boy and begged for help: "Please save the child!" After nearly half an hour of emergency treatment, the doctors managed to bring back the child who had stopped breathing and whose heart had ceased. However, just as the medical staff were about to relax, they noticed something unusual: the boy had multiple bruises on his body, which appeared to be caused by external force. Confronted with the battered, unconscious child, the medical staff could not hide their questions: "Who hurt the child?" The answer was shocking - the one who inflicted such cruelty on the child was none other than the boy's biological father.
Multiple Personalities: Different Views of Geng from Others
The incident occurred on May 12, 2011. According to those in the know, the middle-aged man who brought the child to the hospital claimed to be the child's father, Geng. He told the medical staff that the child's name was "Xin Xin," who had experienced convulsions and loss of consciousness a few days earlier. The family had restored his consciousness by pressing the "Renzhong" acupoint. That evening, due to another episode of convulsions and subsequent unconsciousness, the child was rushed from Lansi County to Harbin for emergency care.
To investigate the truth behind "Xin Xin's" severe injuries, on May 13, 2011, I drove over a hundred kilometers to Hou Caijiatun Village in Lanxi County, Suihua City, where Geng was born and raised. From nearby villagers, I learned that Geng's father passed away about ten years ago due to illness, and members of the Geng family have been working outside their hometown for many years. Geng's uncle told me that in his eyes, Geng was a very honest person with no bad habits.
Geng's younger brother, who works in Hebei, returned to Harbin upon hearing about his brother's situation. He informed me that he hadn't seen his brother for over a year. In his memory, his brother was an outgoing person who often smiled. Even when he didn’t have much money during his own wedding, his brother still helped out financially. He believed his brother to be kind-hearted and still found it hard to believe that his brother could beat a child.
Geng worked for a large home decoration company. Manager Wang of Geng's company told me that Geng had served as a project manager at this large home decoration company for one and a half years. Based on feedback from homeowners, many praised Geng for being "kind, meticulous, and responsible." His colleagues mentioned that Geng was polite in his interactions with others, didn’t smoke, and drank rarely.
Geng’s ex-wife Wu said that Geng had multiple affairs, but she forgave him for the sake of the child. Before their divorce, Geng never laid a hand on the child, which was why she entrusted the child to Geng.
At the kindergarten Xin Xin once attended, teachers indirectly confirmed that Geng did not abuse Xin Xin before the divorce. While at the kindergarten, Xin Xin was physically and emotionally normal, and the teachers had never noticed any injuries on his body.
Marriage Failure: Child Becomes Victim
At around 5 p.m. on May 14, 2011, after some effort, I located Xin Xin's mother Wu's temporary residence in Harbin. Due to her weak physical condition and the shock of learning about her child's ordeal, Wu was lying in bed receiving intravenous fluids.
Wu told me that ten years ago, she met Geng through relatives. After dating for only half a month, she felt that Geng looked spirited, had skills, and treated her well, so she married the then-carpenter Geng despite the objections of her entire family. Her choice angered her brother and sister-in-law to the point that they didn’t attend the wedding, yet she still held the wedding in her hometown and later moved to Harbin with Geng to continue working.
After marriage, the couple enjoyed a period of love and affection. However, six months into their marriage, Geng started drinking and beating her, leading to frequent arguments. Later, Geng became obsessed with becoming a boss and refused to work. It wasn't until after Xin Xin's birth that Geng gradually calmed down. She subsequently discovered that Geng was having affairs with other women, causing her to lose hope in him. On November 3, 2010, she divorced Geng and returned to Lanxi.
Wu said she never imagined that her failed marriage would "harm the child."
The divorce agreement stipulated that the child would be raised by the father, but temporarily cared for by the mother until the child could start primary school. A special clause stated that the father must provide the mother with 500 yuan monthly living expenses. If the payment was not made, the child would be returned to the father. The divorce agreement also included details about debts owed by Geng to Wu's relatives.
The last phone conversation between them was on Xin Xin's birthday. Wu said that Xin Xin's lunar birthday was on the first day of the third lunar month. On that day, she called Geng to remind him not to forget to boil eggs for the child's birthday celebration.
Facing the Journalist: Silent Tears from Xin Xin's Father
At around 6 p.m. on May 14, 2011, I arrived at Stalin Police Station. Inside the interrogation room sat Geng, handcuffed and expressionless. Geng was approximately 175 cm tall, with short hair and big eyes. The police officer informed me that Geng had not eaten since noon and expressed concern about the child's safety and regretted severely injuring the child.
"Was it because of unmet expectations that you resorted to such violence?" Upon hearing my question, Geng sighed deeply, looking up: "Which parent doesn't wish for their child to succeed?"
"How were the child's injuries sustained, and what wrong did he commit to deserve such punishment?" In response to my persistent questioning, Geng remained silent with his head down. After a long pause, he mumbled softly: "I was beaten as a child too."
"Family violence is like a seed of evil, passed down through generations." This statement frequently mentioned by educational experts proved true in Geng's case. The police told me that Geng admitted to them that he worked in house renovations all year round. After divorcing his wife, both parties took turns raising the child while Geng worked tirelessly to earn money. However, the child fell far short of Geng's expectations of "obedience," always being mischievous. After a tiring day at work, an already exhausted Geng found it difficult to tolerate his lively, energetic son, leading to uncontrollable anger and repeated violent outbursts. The police explained that the bruises on the child's buttocks were caused by a slipper. They asked Geng how many times he had hit the child to cause subcutaneous necrosis, resulting in black-purple bruising, but Geng couldn't recall or dared not think about it.
"Do you pray for your child?" At this question, Geng, who had been pretending to be tough just a second ago, broke down in tears. "If only I could save him, I would give up my heart, liver, and lungs."
"If the child survives, he may still be mischievous and disobedient. Will you still resort to violence?" Geng silently shook his head and shed tears.
Neglected Care: Confined Alone for Hours Each Day
During the investigation, I learned that after Geng's divorce, little Xin Xin dropped out of kindergarten. Starting in April 2011, as the project manager of a certain decoration company, Geng became extremely busy. He left the child alone at home every day, departing around 5 a.m. for work and returning home earliest around 5 p.m., sometimes even later. For more than a month, the five-year-old Xin Xin was left alone at home for over ten hours each day.
Due to Geng's early morning departure and late return, meals had to be prepared in advance and left at home. When hungry, the child would eat by himself without anyone speaking to him throughout the day. Whether the five-year-old could reheat food or if he ate cold meals remains unclear.
According to Geng's younger brother, on the evening of May 12, Geng and his girlfriend were in the rented apartment when Xin Xin wet the bed again. Geng angrily stripped his son of his pants and then stood up to open the window to air out the smell of urine. By the time he turned back, the child had already fainted. Although Xin Xin had head injuries, Geng insisted he had never hit his son's head. During the police investigation, Geng claimed the injuries on the child's hands were caused by a door squeezing, and the bruises on the buttocks were from hitting with a slipper. Xin Xin inherited his father's stubbornness, refusing to admit fault or cry even when beaten, which made Geng angrier and hit harder.
Final Verdict: Father Sentenced to 15 Years for Domestic Violence
At 1:25 p.m. on May 27, 2011, despite multiple attempts at resuscitation, Xin Xin's heart finally stopped beating. The child, who had already lost brain function and could no longer feel pain, peacefully left the world.
On July 20, 2011, the "autopsy report" was released, stating that Xin Xin died from blunt force trauma to the head causing intracranial bleeding and cerebral contusions, leading to damage to the central nervous system and formation of cerebellar tonsillar herniation. Large-scale soft tissue bruises on the trunk and limbs, along with lobar pneumonia, accelerated the death process. Regarding the cause of the severe head injury, the forensic doctor deduced based on the shape characteristics of the injuries that it was caused by blunt force impact.
On December 5, 2011, the Intermediate People's Court of Harbin ruled that Xin Xin's father Geng was guilty of intentional assault and sentenced him to 15 years in prison, depriving him of political rights for five years.
Prosecutors from the Legal Policy Research Office of Harbin's Procuratorate believed that although Geng abused the child, his deliberate intent to harm Xin Xin was more evident. The forensic examination report confirmed that Xin Xin died from a heavy blow to the head. Based on the location and intensity of the blows, Geng demonstrated deliberate intent and behavior to harm. Therefore, the prosecution charged Geng with intentional assault rather than abuse, which was more accurate. Simultaneously, it increased the sentencing range for Geng, aligning with the principle of proportionality between crime and punishment.
Case handlers explained that the court's sentence of 15 years imprisonment for intentional assault was the highest upper limit of liberty deprivation and was appropriate. Some people might argue that the sentence for Geng was too lenient, which can be understood emotionally. Indeed, Geng's actions challenged the moral bottom line and incited public outrage. However, sentencing cannot exceed the established framework of criminal law, national conditions, and historical stages.