A MOTHER is said to have choked her 2-year-old daughter to death in a rented house in Bao'an District, Shenzhen on Monday (May 14), just hours after the Mother's Day and a month after her husband left home after an argument.

The woman, only identified by her surname Li, then tried to commit suicide by cutting her wrist. But she survived after her neighbors who heard her cries for help took her to hospital, police said.

Police said Li, a native of Hubei Province, was in a stable condition.

Li, 36, was later detained by police on charge of intentional murder. She told police that she felt hopeless after her spouse surnamed Cao left home a month ago after a row.

Li didn't have a job to support herself in Shenzhen.

According to a neighbor surnamed Wang, Li felt disappointed after Cao, 40, a native of Chaozhou-Shantou area, Guangdong Province, the only breadwinner, refused to pay for her to go to see her ailing mother and to show respect to her father who died two months ago.

Li also had no money to pay for her medical treatment fees, around 400 yuan (US$79), in the Fuyong hospital, after her husband left her, said another neighbor who did not give his name.

Cao returned home only after hearing about the tragedy from Wang and he was taken away for questioning by police before seeing his dead daughter.

Li could receive a sentence of between 10 years and life imprisonment if found guilty, according to Xiao Wenquan, a lawyer at the Beijing-based Weiheng Law Firm Shenzhen office.

Dai Yingping, psychologist with the Shenzhen office of China Psychological Consultation Web site, said case studies show spouses, mostly mothers, are likely to attack their children when they suffer depression or are pessimistic about their relationships.

Editor: Wing