A two-year-old boy is chained to a post outside a shopping mall when his unlicensed motorbike taxi driver father was at work in Fangshan district, Beijing. The 42-year-old father, Chen Chuanliu, says he lost his four-year-old daughter last month and the extreme measure was the only way to keep his son safe. Since Friday, he has been tethering the boy so he can leave to pick up customers. The boy's mother is reportedly mentally disabled. The photo was taken on Feb. 1, 2010. [Photo: CFP]

A 2-year old boy whose father recently chained him to a post outside a shopping mall received free tuition to a kindergarten in Beijing's Fangshan District, the Beijing News reported Wednesday.

The boy's father, 42-year-old Cheng Chuanliu, is a migrant who works as an unlicensed motorbike taxi driver in Beijing. Since Friday, he has been tethering his son to the post so he could leave to pick up customers.

After Cheng Chuanliu's actions were reported, staff from Fangshan District's minor protection committee and local police station went to persuade Cheng not to continue this behavior, and a local kindergarten told the Beijing News it would grant the boy free admission.

Cheng Chuanliu explained he lost his 4-year-old daughter last month, who's still missing, and thought the extreme measure was the only way to keep his son safe.

Meanwhile, the boy's mother is reportedly mentally disabled.

The local district government announced at Tuesday's press conference that it will begin recruiting volunteers to offer assistance. As of now, there's no public kindergarten in Fangshan to provide a pre-school education to kids from migrant worker families.

Cheng Chuanliu had refused to go to the social aid center, where his family could have obtained food and medical care, according to the district's civil affairs department.