Chinese mother who whipped her 9-year-old foster son for 'not doing his homework' jailed for 6 months

The woman, named in local media reports only as Li, was part of a landmark case for China

The case is the first to have been brought against an adult for assaulting a minor (Getty)

A Chinese woman who horrifically whipped her foster son has been jailed for six months.

The woman, named only as Li in local media reports in Nanjing in east China's Jiagsu Province, left her nine-year-old son with seemingly horrendous scars after she beat him when he refused to finish his homework.

Pictures of the incident were leaked online during her trial and made international headlines. The child, who has not been named, was her nephew who she adopted from a remote village in Anhui province in order to give him a better education.

Li told the court she had beaten the boy with a skipping rope and back scratcher because “he didn’t finish his homework and told lies”.

“I’m not a bad mother,” she added. “I just don’t want him to tell lies.”

She faces a six-month jail sentence in the landmark case for China – the first recorded instance of an adult being prosecuted for assaulting a child. While she serves out her term, the boy will return to his biological parents in Anhui province.