Infant beaten up by girl undergoes brain surgery

An 18-month-old boy who was beaten up by a girl and then fell from the 25th floor of their apartment building in southwest China's Chongqing City late last month underwent craniotomy yesterday.

The infant, nicknamed Yuanyuan, had his endocranium repaired and necrotic brain tissues cleaned in the six-hour surgery at the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, his father Li Shengzhong said.

Yuanyuan is now in the intensive care unit as he is still at risk of bleeding and contracting virus, Li told China Central TV.

Li said Yuanyuan had severe brain injuries, skull fractures and lung bleeding. The boy was in a coma until December 3. He could eat food on December 8, Li wrote on Weibo.com.

The China Social Assistance Foundation and Sina have together raised 100,000 yuan (US$16,470) to cover the boy's medical bills. Also, his mother has received public donations of nearly 250,000 yuan, Li said.

The incident occurred on November 25. Yuanyuan's grandmother failed to take the toddler away from the elevator in time before the door closed. The girl surnamed Li got in.

Security camera footage from the elevator showed the girl holding Yuanyuan up and then dropping him. Later she kicked him in the head and threw him out when the lift door opened.

The girl's father said his daughter later took the baby to the balcony of their apartment on the 25th floor. She kicked him because he didn't smile or was not "friendly." Yuanyuan fell down after being taken aback by a dog's bark, he said.

Since she was under the age of 10, the girl wasn't detained or charged. Her mother has since taken her away to northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where she works.

Yuanyuan's family has filed a civil suit at a local district court, seeking compensation. Police said that the girl's father had already paid 78,000 yuan.