Child custody law gives girl new life

The first child to be taken from her parents under the nation's new child protection laws now has a reason to smile - she will be raised by the woman who helped her escape a life of abuse.

The 10-year-old girl, whose parents divorced when she was 1, had been seriously beaten and sexually abused by her father until she asked for food from a woman in a neighboring village last year. She later told the woman about what was happening at home.

Shortly after, the civil affairs department in Tongshan district in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, took custody of the girl from her father.