A mother in Singapore was sentenced to jail on Friday (2 Aug) for physically abusing her six-year-old son.
The Straits Times (ST) reported that the offences occurred on 11 May 2020.
At the time, the victim lived with his mother, siblings, half-siblings, step-siblings, and his mother’s then-boyfriend.
The 33-year-old woman, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her son’s identity, had punished her son for misbehaving.
She forced him to a handstand before kicking, slapping, and hitting the child with a belt.
The court revealed that the boy had cried out in pain, but his mother ignored his pleas.
She then struck him across the face and body with a belt more than 100 times using both the strap and buckle.
The next day, the woman took her son to the Nanyang Neighbourhood Police Centre in Jurong where she filed a false report.
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She claimed that her then-boyfriend had physically assaulted her son.
On 13 May 2020, a doctor at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital examined the boy and found more than 50 bruises and abrasions.
It is unclear how the woman’s offences came to light.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported that CCTV footage of the assault was previously played in court.
Despite being told to leave the room, the public and media could still hear the boy’s cries from outside.
District Judge Carol Ling expressed that the footage was “hard to watch”, noting that unnecessary force and violence cannot be tolerated, even in disciplinary circumstances.
However, she also pointed out that the incident was isolated and did not result in permanent injuries.
The court heard that the mother-son relationship was improving, with the woman being allowed access to her son under the supervision of a child protection officer.
The woman pleaded guilty in 2023 to one count under the Children and Young Persons Act of ill-treating a child in her care, according to CNA.
Another charge of providing false information to a police officer was also considered during her sentencing.
She was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on Friday (2 Aug), and is set to begin her sentence in September.
For ill-treating a child in her care, the woman could have been sentenced to up to eight years in jail, fined up to S$8,000, or both.
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