Man accused of sexually assaulting minors arrested in China

Beijing: An alleged paedophile was today arrested in Shanghai on suspicion of sexually assaulting three minor girls at a school, the latest incident of growing cases of child abuse in China. The accused, surnamed Zhang who is a migrant worker in the east Chinese city of Shanghai, allegedly assaulted the girls of other migrant workers at a kindergarten in Yangpu District on June 7. Two of the girls are aged five and the other six. Zhang, who is not a kindergarten employee, was covering for his wife employed at the school as a cook. She was at home taking care of their child, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Zhang was detained on June 11. A number of cases of children being abused at schools have been reported in China recently. Last month, two teachers were sentenced to death in an abuse case while another was reported last month where a kindergarten principal and an education official were dismissed over a child abuse scandal in northwest China`s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In east China`s Anhui Province, a 59-year-old man was sentenced for raping and molesting first and second graders. The accused in the incident used to invite his potential victims to "play games," and used to ask them to take off their clothes and lie on desks and cover their eyes with cloth before raping them. In another case, a 56-year-old primary school teacher in Nanyang of central China`s Henan Province was sentenced to death with two years` reprieve for raping primary school children. The All-China Women`s Federation (ACWF) today called for severe punishment for sexual assault on underage girls. "Regardless of whether such assaults lead to physical injuries, involve money or have the target children`s consent, these acts result in unexpected and irreversible damage to the children`s lives and growth," Gao Shawei, head of the ACWF`s rights and interests department said. She said improving legislation and policy to educate children about sexual assault would help protect minors, especially girls, the Xinhua report said. Gao called for "methods acceptable to children" to let them know how to avoid sexual assault.