Too young to be criminal

Toddler beating case exposes legal dilemma in preventing juvenile crimes, report He Na in Beijing and Zhang Chunyan in London

A brutal and apparently motiveless attack that left a baby boy hospitalized with severe injuries has sparked public outrage across China. That outrage has been further stoked by news that police are unable to charge the assailant because she is younger than 14.

On Nov 25 in Chongqing, the girl, surnamed Li, attacked an unrelated toddler named Li Xinyuan after he became separated from his grandmother. She first assaulted the toddler in an elevator in the apartment block where they both lived, before taking him to her family's apartment where the attack continued.