At the bottom of the atrium, there was still a child's shoe left.
On the shoe rack at the entrance of the family involved in the incident, there was a bag of baby care products.
The building where the incident occurred was designed with two vertical ventilation atriums on the east and west sides. The 2-year-old boy was thrown by his mother from a passage window on the 7th floor into the western ventilation atrium and died after falling from the building.
About four hours after the boy fell to the ground in Building No.1 of Xinlingdi in Huamu area in Pudong, he was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.
"What kind of hatred could make a mother throw her own child to death!" The residents condemned one after another.
Correspondents of Oriental Morning Post Long Yi and Jia Shuangshuang Pictures by Wang Haoran, an intern reporter of Oriental Morning Post
A 2-year-old boy was thrown out of a window on the 7th floor by his mother and fell onto the cold cement ground of the atrium. Four hours later, he was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, but unfortunately passed away.
This tragedy occurred around 2 p.m. on September 2 in Building No.1, Dujuan Road 188 Lane, Huamu area, Pudong New Area. According to police investigations afterward, it might have been caused by a quarrel between husband and wife that led the child's mother to take such action.
The boy was thrown into the ventilation atrium
According to information obtained by the reporter from Oriental Morning Post, this 2-year-old boy fell into the ventilation atrium inside the Xinlingdi building. This building is mixed-use residential and commercial space, 29 stories high. Because each floor has more than ten households, the building was designed with two vertical ventilation atriums (also called air shafts) on the east and west sides. The walls are windows of residents' bathrooms and internal passage windows. The boy was thrown from a passage window on the 7th floor into the western ventilation atrium and died after falling from the building.
According to security personnel at Xinlingdi Building No.1, the incident occurred around 2 p.m. that day. Since the internal ventilation atrium rarely attracts attention, no one noticed the child falling at that time. It is possible that the child lay on the cement ground of the atrium for about 4 hours.
It took four hours before being sent to the hospital
This security guard recalled that the boy was discovered around 6 p.m. that day when an elderly couple walked out of the unit building, holding a boy of about 2 years old. Crying, they opened the access control system but were anxious and didn't know which way to go. The security guard on duty at the entrance of the unit building immediately moved to help, but soon realized that the boy's condition was extremely abnormal. "At that time, the little boy's limbs had already gone limp, and when he was held, his hands dangled outside and swayed."
The security guard said that the child had already lost consciousness, with a bluish-purple complexion and bruises on his face, and blood continuously flowing from his nostrils. "The blood wasn't fresh; it looked like pale bloody water." After asking the elderly couple, the security guard learned from them that this 2-year-old boy was their grandson, who had been injured after falling from the building. Property management and security staff quickly dialed the 120 emergency number.
Subsequently, during intermittent conversations with the elderly couple, the security personnel heard shocking news. "Later, we learned from them that the child had already fallen about 4 hours ago," the security guard recalled. Around 2 p.m. that day, he seemed to have vaguely heard a "bang" sound. Because construction work had been ongoing recently on Longyang Road outside the building, he thought it was the sound of engineering drilling, not realizing that someone had fallen from the building.
The mother was taken to the police station for investigation
The next day, several policemen came to the building for investigation. Only then did property management and security personnel learn that the boy had already died, and the case involved homicide.
Afterward, according to the police, preliminary investigations indicated that the event was carried out by the child's mother, Zou Mou, who threw her child out of the window. Currently, Zou Mou has been taken back to the police station, and the case is under further investigation and confirmation.
According to Yiren Property Management Company of the Xinlingdi building, the child’s family lived in room 710, which was purchased by the government specifically as affordable housing. This household moved into the house in January this year. Staff members stated that since the tenants were arranged by the Pudong Housing Fund Center, the property management company does not have specific registration details about the household.
However, according to a security officer in the neighborhood, at least three generations of the family lived in Room 710: the 2-year-old boy, his parents, and his maternal grandparents. The security officer noted that the child’s parents went to work during the day, and usually the grandparents stayed home to take care of the child. The security officer also emphasized that this family rarely communicated with others, and the surrounding neighbors knew very little about their situation.
Suspected marital argument triggered the tragedy
"The child's parents are often seen, but after living there for so long, the child himself was only seen twice," the security officer said. One of those times was on the day of the incident at noon when the child's mother suddenly returned with the child. "It seems that the couple had an argument, and the mother wanted to hand the child over to the grandparents for care," the security officer said. Yesterday, from the police investigation, it was learned that the case might have been caused by a marital argument after which the mother threw the child from the 7th floor, resulting in his death.
After the incident, the child's mother and family were taken to the police station for investigation. The door of Room 710 was tightly locked, and beside the door, a bag of children's items from Liyingfang was quietly placed. Directly facing the door was the ventilation atrium, and the window of the atrium was still open. It was introduced that the child was thrown out of this window and fell to his death, leaving one of the child's shoes at the bottom of the atrium.
Scene
Neighborhood tension, repeatedly saying "Don't ask me"
By reporters Long Yi and Jia Shuangshuang of Oriental Morning Post
Why was the child left for four hours before being picked up by his grandparents? According to the staff of the neighborhood where the incident occurred, the child's grandparents never returned to Room 710 after the incident. As of 8:30 p.m. last night, the house remained tightly locked.
According to the neighbor in Room 711 next door, there are a large number of low-rent apartments in this building. The neighbor said that most of the tenants on this floor moved here in January this year through government-subsidized low-rent housing arrangements. Usually, all the doors were tightly locked, and they didn’t know much about other families.
Near the elevator lobby on the first floor, several residents entering and exiting the building heard about the child's tragedy, peeked out halfway, pointing and discussing the nearby ventilation shaft. With dim lighting in the hallway at night, residents didn't dare to check closely.
At the bottom of the atrium where the child fell on the first floor, a living room window of one household directly faces the atrium. Last night, when the reporter went to interview, the female homeowner appeared very nervous. Upon hearing the word "child," she furrowed her brows, quickly closed the door, and repeatedly said, "I don't know," "Don't ask me."
Viewpoint
Effective ways should be sought to relieve emotions
By reporter Tao Ningning of Oriental Morning Post
"This incident of a mother throwing her own son to death, although having a strong element of randomness, reflects the reality that people in modern society cannot find effective ways to release pressure when they bear enormous stress," emphasized Professor Gu Jun from the Department of Sociology at Shanghai University.
Due to immense life and work pressures, some people experience mental health issues or sub-health conditions. Gu Jun believed that interpersonal emotional exchanges are lacking in modern society. "Thus, at the moment when pressure reaches its limit, some people choose to vent their negative emotions on weaker groups around them." Parents inflicting physical abuse or other harmful actions on their children under immense pressure represent extreme cases.
Gu Jun stated, "Modern society should focus on establishing effective emotional support systems. In the past, close neighbors would communicate and relieve emotions, but now, we lack such systems to寄托and vent our emotions." Gu Jun added that people need to seek out effective emotional support systems themselves. "For example, seeking help from a psychologist or participating in more social activities to increase communication with others can help modern people alleviate stress."
Link
Ten-month-old girl infant
Thrown down from the 8th floor by father
On July 11, 2007, in Jiacheng Huayuan, No. 318 Hainan Road, Jiangqiao Town, Jiading District, another case occurred where a young child was thrown out of a window. A 10-month-and-10-day-old girl was thrown out of the window from Room 802, Building 17, and fell straight down eight floors.
Fortunately, after falling 20 meters in the air, the girl eventually landed in the soil of a flower bed at the base of the building, sustaining serious injuries but no life-threatening danger. After the incident, the family said that the child's parents had an unstable marriage and frequently argued. The police dealt with the child's father according to law.
Mother throws her son to death
Then jumps to suicide
On April 29, 2009, a 31-year-old mother first threw her 36-day-old son from the balcony on the south side of the house, causing him to die upon impact. Then, she herself jumped from the north window of the house and died.
The woman's family claimed that her unfortunate death was greatly related to the unfair treatment by her mother-in-law, while the man gave a completely opposite explanation: doctors deduced that the woman suffered from postpartum depression.