Suspected child attacker arrested after online footage emerges

Police in northwestern Shaanxi province have arrested a man suspected of beating a toddler.

Surveillance footage caught the attack and has stirred outrage online.

The suspect was a 28-year-old man surnamed Wang, who suffers from mental illness.

On Monday evening he suddenly assaulted a two-year-old boy who was playing with a broom outside a restaurant.

The story has prompted questions over treatment of people with mental disorders.

Professor Hong Daode from the China University of Political science and Law says the government should shoulder more responsibilities to take care of those with mental disorders.

"The implementation of Mental Health Law is less than satisfactory nationwide. The major reason is that local governments do not have enough funds to support mental institutions and take care of the mentally ill. Incapable of doing so, they just let them go free. So responsibilities like taking care and treating the patient fall to their families. And they don't have the capability either."

There has been a spate of child attacks by mentally ill people reported in China in recent years.

The suspect is currently under psychiatric evaluation.