A girl in Qingyuan died one month short of her 3rd birthday after spending almost a week in intensive care on January 7. She had been hospitalized after being severely beaten by her father’s girlfriend sometime in late December, Sohu News reports.

According to Qingyuan People’s Hospital, where she was taken to on January 1, Xiao Lijia started having headaches and vomiting on December 29 but she did not receive the care she needed. It was later discovered that his father’s girlfriend, Miss Zeng, had been beating her.

That she wouldn’t stop crying was cited as the reason for the beating. If Zeng is pregnant, as is thought, her sentence may be lighter than it otherwise would have been.

There were severe injuries to her skull and brain when she was admitted to hospital. Brain surgery showed exactly how serious her condition was, and for the last few days of her life she was unconscious and could not breathe unassisted.

Xiao Lijia’s biological mother, identified as Xiao Lv, says she had seen scars on the toddler’s face after being left with Zeng before and that Zeng had denied claims made by the toddler that she had treated her badly.

Xiao Lijia was born outside of wedlock in Dongguan in 2009. His mother, who is now 22 and from Zhoukou in Henan Province, was working as a foot masseuse when she met Lao Xu, a construction worker, who is 19 years her senior. After a brief affair, Xiao Lv got pregnant by accident. They had the baby but later broke up.

Both parents were at the girl’s bedside the entire time she was in hospital and her mother was weeping uncontrollably for most of the time.

Lao Xu is also expected to face charges as he was the child’s legal guardian.

People talk and talk about improving training and awareness about child abuse which begs the question, how much training do you need to know that it’s wrong?