Circuit court hears elder care dispute

The Cuiping District People's Court in Yibin of Southwest China's Sichuan province set up a circuit court in a local village on Oct 26 to hear a dispute of elder care.

Mrs Ling and her husband used to live with their son but often quarreled with him and finally moved out to live by themselves.

Mrs Ling, the plaintiff, describes her living conditions to the court. [Photo by Peng Ping and Hou Xu/People's Court Daily]

Now, the 68-year-old Ling lives alone after the passing of her spouse, and nobody but her second daughter occasionally comes to visit and take care of her.

Despite repeated conciliation by the local village committee, Ling's son still refused to shoulder his responsibility of caring for her. Left with no other choice, Li filed a lawsuit against her children asking for 500 yuan ($73.8) per month from each child and the expense of medical care.

The judge reads about the judgment at the circuit court. [Photo by Peng Ping and Hou Xu/People's Court Daily]

At 10 am on Oct 26, a circuit court was set up in a local village to hear the case. After all evidence was given, Ling's children were ordered to pay 300 yuan each month to their mother.

The judge talks with Mrs Ling's children after the ruling. [Photo by Peng Ping and Hou Xu/People's Court Daily]