A 2-year-old boy, identified as Xuanxuan, is carried in the arms of a policeman at Liantang Police Station in Luohu District on Wednesday. The boy was dropped off by his mother at Liantang Subdistrict Office on Tuesday, where staff sent the boy to the police station. The boy’s mother refused to take the boy back and police now are taking care of the child. Police are investigating whether the boy’s parents should be charged with criminal abandonment.

    The boy’s mother divorced his father, with the court giving the mother custody and the father being ordered to pay 600 yuan (US$98) in alimony every month. The mother, angry with the amount of alimony, asked police to send the boy to his father, saying she is unable to support him. The mother claimed that the court had ruled the father to pay such a low amount of alimony because the subdistrict office had provided him an unemployment certificate.Huang Shun