While parents are responsible for their children’s safety and well-being, that’s not always the case in certain families.
In 2020, a couple was sentenced to 27 years’ jail after repeatedly splashing hot water on their five-year-old until he passed away from his injuries.
On Tuesday (12 Jul), the Court of Appeal overturned the couple’s sentences.
Source: BERITAmediacorp on Facebook
The deceased child’s mother Azlin Arujunah has now been convicted of murder and faces the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Her husband, Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman, also had his jail term increased to life imprisonment.
In June, Azlin and Ridzuan were convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous means, which referred to their acts of scalding.
They were sentenced to 27 years’ jail each. Additionally, Ridzuan got 24 strokes of the cane while Azlin received an additional year of jail time.
The couple was initially acquitted of murder when the judge found that the prosecution could not prove the element of common intention.
After the sentencing, the prosecutors submitted an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
According to The Straits Time (ST), the Court of Appeal overturned the sentences on Tuesday (12 Jul).
Now, 30-year-old Azlin has been found guilty of murder and will face the death sentence or life imprisonment.
According to ST, Ridzuan, also 30, has also had his jail term increased to life imprisonment.
The Court of Appeal has been adjourned to consider Azlin’s final sentence and whether Ridzuan’s original caning sentence should remain, pending further submissions.
The couple’s five-year-old son had been subjected to abuse a year after returning to his parents from another family in May 2015.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported that he was hit with a broom, hanger, and pinched with pliers. The boy was also confined in a cage meant for the family cat.
Source: CNA on YouTube
In Oct 2016, the couple splashed hot water on him on four occasions. This led to his eventual death from severe scald injuries.
The first incident between 15 and 17 Oct 2016 saw Azlin pouring hot water on her son’s leg and hand multiple times while grabbing his ankle to stop him from running.
In the second incident from 17 to 19 Oct 2016, Azlin threw cups of hot water at the boy.
He retaliated by shouting at her. When Ridzuan heard this, he threw more hot water at him.
The third event occurred on 21 Oct 2016 when Azlin was angered at the boy and chased him around the living room. As she did this, she threw nine to 10 cups of hot water at him.
One day later, Azlin told Ridzuan to deal with the boy when the latter did not want to shower. He proceeded to hit him with a broom before throwing cups of hot water at him.
The boy eventually fell in the toilet and stopped moving. He was sent to the hospital more than six hours later and succumbed to his injuries the next day.
A five-judge panel reached the judgement that Azlin alone was responsible for the first and third scalding events. The second and fourth scalding incidents were done with her husband Ridzuan.
According to CNA, the Court of Appeal ruled that Azlin’s acts and intentions across all four incidents were sufficient to make out the murder charge.
As for Ridzuan, his sentence was increased due to the accumulative aggravating factors, such as “prolonged periods of escalating abuse and the cruelty of the abuse.”
The panel also considered another aggravating factor, whereby Azlin and Ridzuan had abused their defenceless young child in their home for over four months.
Parents are supposed to look after their child’s well-being.
In this case, not only did the couple fail to provide basic protection and care, but they also inflicted pain on him, resulting in the loss of his life.
At the end of the day, we hope justice will prevail and the couple will be given the appropriate sentence to do right by the young boy.
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Featured images adapted from BERITAmediacorp on Facebook.
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