Report abuse cases early to save the kids

The recent news of a 9-year-old boy in Nanjing, Jiangsu province in East China, being frequently beaten up by his adoptive mother surnamed Li and the photographs of the scars on his back and legs have shocked people.

Cases of child abuse hit the headlines from time to time, and a rough online search shows more than 100 such cases were reported last year. But the reported cases are the proverbial tip of the iceberg, because most of the children who suffer abuse do not or cannot expose the perpetrators, who are often people close to them.

Such children are often beaten up for some small things. In the Nanjing case, the boy was whipped by her adoptive mother for failing to finish his homework. The case came to light only after a kindergarten teacher found his ears were bleeding and on closer inspection saw the bruises and alerted police.