Son sentenced to 7 months for beating elderly father

A man has been sentenced to seven months in jail for beating up his estranged father, a district court said Tuesday.

The defendant, who was not identified, attacked his father on January 25 over a dispute about his household registration, according to a press release from Xuhui District People's Court. The defendant, who had been drinking that night, continued to beat his father after police arrived. At one point, he took out a knife and threatened to kill the older man. His father suffered minor injuries.

The two men did not get along. The defendant had lived with his mother after his parents divorced and seldom visited his father in the years that followed, the court said.

One day, the defendant unexpectedly went to visit his father to ask the older man to add him to the family's household registration.

The defendant had just gotten divorced, so he had to transfer his household registration to the address of a direct relative, which in this case was his father, said Ma Chao, a court press officer.

His father refused, which angered the defendant, the court said.

After the attack, the father admitted that his son had beaten him in the past.

He told the court that he hoped some time in jail would teach his son a lesson.