WUHAN - A six-year-old boy whose ears were alleged hacked off by his aunt in Central China's Hubei province, has had his surgery postponed, his father said Monday.

The right ear of Fanfan, not his real name, was reattached at a hospital in Xiangyang City the day it was cut off on Jan. 28. An artificial ear is to be attached on the left side, said Wang Zhiyong, the boy's father. Fanfan is being treated for free at Wuhan General Hospital in the provincial capital.

The surgery has been postponed because the cartilage of his left ear, which is to be used to construct he artificial ear, is insufficient.

After the first phase of surgery in February, his parents took him to live in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province

"Fanfan used to be lively, but since he arrived in Hangzhou, he has refused either to meet people or attend classes," said his mother Yang Hongyan.

On Jan. 28, Zhang Qihui, Fanfan's aunt allegedly took him into an alley and severed both of his ears with a fruit knife after a family argument. Zhang has been detained and the local procuratorate has initiated prosecution for intentional injury.

Fanfan's parents say they have forgiven Zhang because the woman's family rely on her. "Her child is only five days older than Fanfan. We hope the kid will not be affected," they said.

On May 20, an 11-year-old girl in Hangzhou was beaten to death by her father for copying a classmate's homework, the latest in a series of child abuse incidents which have outraged the Chinese public.

Earlier this month, graphic photos of a 10-year-old boy in Guangdong Province who had allegedly been beaten by his step-mother went viral on Chinese social media, with many users calling for stricter laws against child abuse.

Last year, a six-year-old boy in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi was found near his home covered in blood and with his eyes removed. The boy's aunt, who was a suspect in the case, killed herself days later.