“On Feb. 11, Xiao Li received a distressing call from a 12-year-old crying for help.

“The child was wandering the deserted streets of their hometown in the central Henan province with his mother and 7-year-old sister. Their father had physically abused their mother and then kicked them out of the house at a time when many cities, including theirs, were on lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.

“Their mother, surnamed Wang, had already divorced the man, but he had coerced her and the children into spending the Lunar New Year with his family.”

Read article by Zhang Wanqing from Sixth Tone.