Phone home or I sue!

A court in Jiangyou, Sichuan Province recently tossed out a lawsuit by a 74-year-old man who sued his son for rarely keeping in touch with him.

The man, surnamed Li, was divorced when his son was 10 and lived with his mother. He paid 120 yuan ($17.60) per month child support and maintained regular correspondence with him when he grew up and worked in another city. Li is currently a retired official receiving 2,000 yuan pension monthly and living affluently alone.

However, due to a misunderstanding, relations between the father and son chilled. Except for visiting Li during holidays and festivals, the son seldom phoned his father, not to mention writing to him. Unable to bear being ignored, Li sued his son, demanding he do his washing, cleaning and cooking for him for 11 weeks a year as well as buy him Korean ginseng and other nutritional products.

The court recently chucked the case because it said it was a private, domestic matter and had no legal standing. Despite it all, Li’s son has reportedly decided to spend more time with his father.

www.newssc.org