A young girl in northwestern China who was filmed scavenging for food wearing slippers without socks in the cold weather has attracted attention on social media and placed the plight of her family under the spotlight.
The heart-wrenching video was taken by a woman blogger who met with the girl on a suburban street in the Weiyang District of Xian, Shaanxi province.
The clip was released on social media on November 11.
It shows the girl, nicknamed Yueyue, dressed in a shabby down jacket and wearing a pair of slippers without socks.
At the time, the local temperature was around 10 degrees and the youngster, believed to be seven or eight years old, had a runny nose, the video shows, China National Radio reported.
The girl told the blogger that she does not go to school.
“My mother is dead. She got cancer, the late stage of lung cancer,” the girl says in the video, adding: “My father does not care about me.”
When the girl picks up food from the ground to eat, the blogger tells her son to give her an egg tart.
Yueyue also told the woman that she aspired to have some toys but did not have any money.
The local Civil Affairs Bureau was prompted to start an investigation after the video trended on mainland social media. A related hashtag has attracted nearly 20 million views.
An official said the girl’s father, whose name was not released in the report, does not have a stable job.
The man told the authorities that he is not able to support his children’s education at primary school or kindergarten.
Yueyue has a disabled older half-brother and a younger sister.
The brother is the child of Yueyue’s father and his first wife who has died.
The father’s second wife has given birth to Yueyue and her sister, who is four years old.
The three siblings are looked after by the brother’s grandfather, who apparently does not have a blood relationship with Yueyue and her sister.
The official said the girl was sent to a primary school months ago, but she ran away and never returned.
The authorities are helping to register her with the school again and are in the process of including her family in a government-funded welfare scheme that targets poor residents.
“I just play on the street. I make friends by myself. The kids at small supermarkets and noodle restaurants are my friends,” said Yueyue.
The girl’s father told the media that he has asked the government to raise his children temporarily because he is in a bad mental state caused by the family’s situation.
“I am planning to find a job,” he was quoted as saying.
One online observer said, “I am in tears. I feel sorry for the girl. I hope the authorities can take care of her and her siblings properly.”
“Why did the local government not act before this girl was exposed online? I am sure there are many other such poor kids whom we are not aware of yet,” said another. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
