Who is to blame?

Experts attributed Hongbo's travails to the messy implementation of legal protections for minors and they questioned China's basic social assistance system.

"I'm sure that local village officials knew about the poverty and child abuse problems in Hongbo's family in this small village.

"Why didn't they take any action until media exposure?" asked Yang Hongmei, a law professor at Henan University of Economics and Law.

Yang said officials should be held accountable when they fail to do their duty.

But Hongbo's situation involves more than officials. Many netizens criticized the boy's parents for their inability to raise children and demanded that the government rescind their custody.

Zheng Xikuan, a Qingfeng People's court official, told Xinhua News Agency that if Hongbo's mother is mentally ill, her custody could be taken away, but she would not be charged under the law.

Zhang Mingsuo, a sociology professor at Zhengzhou University, said the case is a reflection that "our society has not done enough in protecting minors".

"This could be seen in the recent mass suicide case of four children in Guizhou, and Hongbo's case is only further proof," Zhang said.

Last month, four siblings who living alone, aged 5 to 13, died in a hospital after swallowing pesticide at home in Bijie, Guizhou province.

Zhang said the level of legal awareness in rural China is low and that many people would be reluctant to interfere in others' family affairs - which means many tragedies go unnoticed.

He added that China's social assistance system is still flawed, which is why similar tragedies continue to pop up, despite improved welfare.

"We need to make much, much more effort to improve our social assistance system," Zhang said. "It might take time and might not be easy, but in the long run it will be a pain worth suffering."

Xinhua contributed to this story.

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