Toddler beater skips town, destination unknown

The 10-year-old girl who beat up a toddler and caused him to fall from the 25th floor of a Chongqing apartment building has left Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with her mother, China Central Television (CCTV) news reported on Tuesday.

The report did not indicate where they were going, but said she would have to give up a scheduled psychiatric evaluation.

Shortly after the incident in Chongqing, the girl's mother had removed her to the northwestern region for "work allocation," police said.

The girl, surnamed Li, had been expected to undergo psychiatric evaluation, the district publicity department of Changshou, Chongqing, told the Beijing Youth Daily on Monday.

The victim's father Li Shengzhong told the Global Times on Tuesday that his baby boy could now eat and is in a stable condition in hospital. "But it doesn't mean that he is out of danger," he said. "His brain surgery will be conducted early next week."

Video footage dated November 25 shows 18-month-old Yuanyuan being thrown to the ground and kicked in the elevator. The tot was then taken to the 10-year-old's apartment on the 25th floor. While "playing" with Yuanyuan, the girl caused him to fall from the balcony, police said.

When the Global Times contacted Changshou publicity department on Tuesday, an official surnamed Wang said he did not hear anything about psychiatric evaluation for the girl.

"The girl's behavior shows that she has serious psychological problems," Li Meijin, a criminal psychology professor with Chinese People's Public Security University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"A psychiatric evaluation could help her identify problems through evaluating her personality and family."

Previous reports said the attacker was cursed and beaten by her parents. The father denied this, CCTV reported.

Li Shengzhong said he has received no apology from the family, nor had they visited Yuanyuan. But the attacker's father told CCTV he has apologized many times.

Li Shengzhong said 78,000 yuan had been delivered to him from the family through local police. Another 247,000 yuan had been donated by the public, he noted on his Sina Weibo account on Tuesday.

People across the nation have expressed their fury that neither the girl nor her parents have been punished for the near-fatal attack after police announced they would not conduct any criminal investigation into this case as the girl is under 14.

Some local people posted online attempting to organize a 100,000-person demonstration demanding punishment for the girl, the Changshou publicity department revealed. The post was deleted later.