A husband was recently punished for violating the breast-feeding rights of his wife in Neixiang, Henan Province. This is the first case of its kind in China.
Guo Xiongwei, father of a four-month-old baby that was still in the breast-feeding stage, hid the child from his wife, who then sought to regain her rights through legal means. On July 1, the Neixiang Lower Court delivered the verdict, ordering the baby to be brought back immediately to his mother for feeding. Guo and his mother were both detained for violating the breast-feeding right of the baby and its mother, Zhang. The judges decided that, as the baby was still in breast-feeding period, Zhang's right to feed should be protected. Hence, even though the defendants could appeal against the court's verdict, they were ordered to accede to its requirements immediately.
However, Guo and his mother neither appealed nor did they execute the court verdict. After court personnel tried twice in via to bring back the baby, Bailiff Squad was called in to help. Guo and his mother, however, not only refused to reveal the baby's hiding place, but also insulted the bailiffs. Only when they had been arrested did they finally reveal the baby's whereabouts. When the grateful mother, Zhang, regained her baby son, who had been deprived of breast-feeding for a dozen days, she knelt down before the staff to show her gratitude to the people's court.
(CIIC 09/29/2000)
