A Chinese woman was jailed for six months for mercilessly beating up her adopted son for not finishing his homework. The mother pleaded not guilty, media reported.
A Nanjing court on Friday upheld the six-month prison term awarded by a local court, which ruled that she had gone "too far" in punishing her son, Xinhua news agency reported.
Legal experts say the case has shed light on the controversial practice of physical punishment as a motivational aid in Chinese families.
The case broke in April after widely-shared pictures on the Internet showed a boy, allegedly from east China's Nanjing City, with many red-raw welts across his back suggesting intense whipping.
Li, who confessed to beating her nine-year-old son with a back scratcher and skipping rope for not doing his homework and telling lies, was detainded by police.
The boy was the third child of a rural family in Anhui province, according to local media. He was adopted by his aunt in the hope that he could receive a better education in the city.
Li was handed a prison term in September following a medical report that declared the boy had suffered "minor injury". Li appealed the decision.
Both the boy and his biological parents have pleaded mercy for Li. The parents said Li loved their son, but had just dealt with this issue the wrong way.
"I'm not a bad mother. I was just trying to discipline my child," Li said at the trial. She apologised for her misbehaviour and pleaded not guilty.
