The death of two girls, aged 1 and 3 years, because of starvation in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on June 21, after their drug-addict mother left them alone at home exposes the loopholes in China's social and legal systems to protect minors.

The Law on the Protection of Minors requires parents and/or guardians of minors to fulfill the responsibilities of guardianship and forbids them from abusing or abandoning them. But since it is hard to effectively implement the law, parents and guardians who fail to fulfill their responsibilities evade punishment.

Although Article 53 of the Law on the Protection of Minors stipulates that people's courts can deprive such parents and guardians of the custody of minors if they find evidence provided by people or authorities against them convincing, there are no official organizations to take care of the minors. In many cases, parents who fail to fulfill their responsibilities get off after being reprimanded by local residents' committees or police and continue to have the custody of the minors they abuse or ill-treat.