A 13-month-old boy was crushed to death by a car driven by a Chinese official, because the boy’s parents had not adhered to the country’s one-child policy, a local spokesman said.

The policy – under China’s population controls – came into practice more than 30 years ago, and stipulated that couples who have more than one child must pay a “social upbringing” fine, while in other cases, mothers have been forced to undertake abortions.

A Mayu county official surnamed Zhou told AFP, “the family was agitated,” The baby was rushed to hospital, but could not be saved, the People’s Daily reported on their website. It is uncertain how many children the couple had.

China says that the one-child policy has prevented overpopulation and boosted economic development. Widespread outrage occurred last year after a woman who had been forced to abort seven months into her pregnancy, was pictured with the bloody foetus.