China child acid victim wins damages 21 years later

BEIJING, June 23 (Reuters) A Chinese man disfigured 21 years ago by a jealous aunt who poured sulphuric acid over his head has been awarded 430,000 yuan in damages by a Beijing court, a Chinese newspaper reported.

Rui Xuwei suffered the attack by his aunt, Wu Huanzhen, outside his kindergarten gate, the Beijing News said yesterday.

The court ordered Rui's aunt to pay 300,000 yuan compensation for medical treatment and in psychological damages, and ruled that the kindergarten, which closed in 1997, had failed in its duty to protect Rui.

A council office responsible for the defunct kindergarten was ordered to pay 132,000 yuan, the paper said.

It was unlikely Rui would receive any compensation from the aunt, his lawyer said, because she didn't have the money.

Wu, who was jailed for 13 years in 1986, told police at the time that she and her husband had ''poor relations'' a situation she believed related to the birth of her daughter and her failure to give birth to a son, the paper said.

China families traditionally prefer male children a favouritism bolstered by the one-child policy launched in the early 1980s to curb its population.

Wu felt her daughter suffered discrimination from her husband and other family members who favoured Rui, the paper said.

As an adult, Rui's scarring was so bad that ''he had never been able to find work'' and was ''unwilling to show his face'' in public, the paper quoted Rui's mother as saying.

REUTERS SY VA RAI0837