A 10-year-old boy was found sleeping naked at the back of a tricycle in minus two degree weather to avoid being beaten by his parents in southwest China.
Neighbours were shocked as they saw the boy's body covered in wounds and bruises, according to local reports.
The boy said he ran away from home after getting whipped by his parents.
A 10-year-old boy puts on clothes given by neighbours after spending a night on a tricycle in cold weather in China (left). His back is covered in whiplash marks and bruises (right)
The incident happened in a residential district in San Qiao, Guiyang of Guizhou Province on January 8, according to Guizhou Metropolitan.
Footage emerged online showed the young boy sustaining bruises and whiplash marks all over his body.
The man who first found the boy apparently thought there was a chicken hiding under the canvas.
One neighbour said: 'The boy is hurt from top to bottom! He has to stay in a hospital.'
The boy was said to be sleeping naked in a tricycle over night and covered by a thin canvas under chilly weather as low as minus two degrees Celsius.
The boy says he runs away from home after being beaten up by his parents the night before
Shocked neighbours call the police and give the 10-year-old thick clothes to keep warm
The man is shocked to see a boy sleeping naked on a tricycle as he thought it was a chicken
Onlookers brought over thick jackets and clothes to the boy and reported the case to the policemen.
The boy explained he got beaten up by his parents and did not want to go home.
A woman working in a laundry shop nearby said she had seen the boy walking naked on the street with his mother at the night before.
'She was wearing a wool jacket but the boy was naked,' she stated.
Reporters found the boy matched with a missing person leaflet posted in the neighbourhood.
They contacted Mr Zeng, father of the boy, and asked of what happened on the night of January 7.
'He is naughty and we punished him,' said Mr Zeng and he hung up the phone.
San Qiao police officers called the boy's family and gave a verbal warning to them before releasing the boy back to them.
The Zeng family promised to take good care of the boy.
Police officers are still investigating for further details.