Toddler nearly 'choked to death' as babysitter force-feeds him

A Chinese couple have been horrified after discovering that their son was nearly chocked to death as their nanny force-fed him, according to Chinese media.

The nanny was also caught on a monitor hitting and shaking the toddler, who is said to be just over one year old.

When the parents confronted the nanny, she explained that she had been in a bad mood that day before fleeing the house with a packed bag.

The toddler and his parents, Mr Zhang and Ms Chen, live in Fuzhou, in south-east China's Fujian Province, according to Huanqiu.com, an affiliation to People's Daily.

Mr Zhang and Ms Chen hired the nanny, Ms Zhou from Jiangxi Province, through an agency about a month ago to look after their young son because they need to go on business trips regularly.

The couple have had a monitor installed at their home to that they could check on their child and the nanny, who is in her 40s. Ms Chen said the monitor could send live footage to her and her husband's phones 24 hours a day.

When Mr Zhang, the father, watched the footage on his phone at around 6pm on March 18, he was shocked to see that the nanny had been feeding rice paste to his child by force, according to the report.

The couple were horrified that their son had nearly been choked to death.

The video also shows when the child vomited on the table, the nanny, Ms Zhou, slapped him on the head.

Ms Zhou also held the child on a horizontal position and pinched his nose to make sure that he would swallow his food.

The child cried and struggled throughout the footage.

When Mr Zhang and his wife saw the footage, they were in Quanzhou, a nearby city, on a business trip. The shocked couple returned to Fuzhou the next morning.

They took their son to the hospital and reported the case to the police.

The couple confronted Ms Zhou at their home and asked why she had abused their son, as told by Ms Chen to alocal TV reporter.

The mother said Ms Zhou had initially denied the allegations, but when the couple showed her the video, she explained that she had been in a bad mood on that day.

The nanny then fled the family with a packed bag after the conversation.

Ms Chen said that she had previously told off Ms Zhou for taking her son to crowded places. She suspected that Ms Zhou had been unhappy about the comments and released her anger on her son.

According to Shanghai Daily, the toddler was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia as a result of the alleged abuse.

The case is under police investigation.