Left-behind children back to attention after girl falls to death

Public concern over the health and safety of "left-behind" children has risen once again after a girl fell to her death.

Yangtse Evening Post reports that a 12-year-old girl was found lying in a pool of blood on the ground outside a residential building in Lianshui county of Jiangsu province in eastern China on Friday night. A witness said that she thought it was a plastic human-shaped model, but found after two hours that was a girl.

On arrival at the site, police found a window on the 11th floor of the building was open. However, when they asked the family about the girl, all four adults in the home said it was impossible that their family member had fallen. On request of the police, one of the adults went downstairs to check, and it turned out to be his granddaughter.

The girl was sent to hospital, but died from her serious injuries.

It was reported that the girl was a left-behind child who lived with her grandparents. Her parents have been working in another city for many years. She was playing alone in her room when she fell, with four adults including her grandparents, her uncle and aunt at home.

Although the incident is still under investigation, netizens have already started a heated discussion.

Many doubted the response of the family members, saying it was odd that they insisted it couldn't be their family member and were reluctant to check. Some blamed the parents for leaving the child behind. Some others even said that it might be a murder.

There are 61 million left-behind children in China. Their parents have moved away for better-paying jobs, usually far away from their hometowns. These children usually live with other relatives, and often with their grandparents.

The left-behind children phenomenon has brought many problems to Chinese society, including psychological issues, injuries, abuse or other harm.

The State Council released a guideline on the protection of left-behind children in February this year.