An 81-year-old man in China has taken his children to court for failing to visit him.
Chu Lin - who defied China's one child rule and fathered half a dozen – started the court proceedings under the country's 'Law of Protection of Rights and Interests of the Aged', legislation, which makes it illegal for people to neglect the elderly.
Although respect for the elderly has always been a big part of Chinese culture, there have been complaints in recent years that it was in decline, prompting the government to introduce new rulings and make it the law for children to visit their aged parents.
Chu Lin's case is the first case to reach the courts in Beijing since the new bills were put in place, and the old man didn't hold back on what he expected from his offspring, telling the court he expected them to share his daily expenses and medical fees between the six of them and that each should visit him at least once a week.
"The very least I would expect is that they provide these services for me in Beijing, but ideally I would prefer it if they supported me in a move back to my hometown in Hebei province, and that each of them should regularly visit me there, taking it in turns for one month at a time to be with me," he told the hearing
"I would say that none of them are particularly good at visiting me although my four sons do occasionally manage it, but my two daughters never visit me. They are the worst. When my wife was alive they all came regularly but when she died in 2011 it just dried up. Especially my older daughter who lives just down the road and never stops by, and once I fell down in the street in front of her and she just carried on going and ignored me as if she didn't know me. It really hurt me. "
The court eventually ruled that Chu Lin's request for the children to move him was unlikely to be able to be fulfilled, causing the man to burst into tears. The family then asked the court for time to see if they could work out an agreement among themselves.
A similar case was heard in the provinces earlier this year when an elderly woman took her daughter to court for failing to care for her or visit her.
Chu Li, 77, from Jiangsu Province was successful in her case, and the court ordered her daughter to go and see her at least once every two months and during important national holidays such as the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Day, with penalties being imposed if she refuses.