• A mother began abusing her oldest child at kindergarten age
• She also hit her other daughter, who is four years younger, even after the Child Protective Service intervened
• Her husband learnt of the abuse when he saw CCTV clips
• A psychiatrist said that the mother's future interactions with her children should be strictly supervised
• She is set to be sentenced later in September

SINGAPORE — A mother who was on bail for physically abusing her two young daughters on multiple occasions, including kicking one of them in the head, went back to assaulting them while they were alone at home.

She had already been caught red-handed in video footage from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) that her husband had installed in their Yishun public flat.

The woman defended her actions by saying that she disciplined her children because they were “very naughty”, and claimed that she hit them only when necessary.

The 38-year-old Singaporean housewife pleaded guilty on Thursday (Sept 16) to seven charges of ill-treating her children, who were aged four in one case, and eight to 10 in the other when she targeted them.

District Judge Kessler Soh will consider four similar charges when sentencing the woman on Sept 29.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Ying Min said that the prosecution will be seeking a jail term of three years and two months.

The mother has been in remand since earlier this week, and initially intended to claim trial. She cannot be named due to court orders to protect her daughters’ identities.

OLDER GIRL LOST FRONT TOOTH

The court heard that the woman had a young son, too, but did not beat him.

The oldest daughter revealed that her mother began beating her when she was in kindergarten. This worsened in 2018 when the girl was in Primary 1, including the mother slapping her face several times, using a cane to hit her, kicking her and pulling her hair.

This usually happened in the living room. Her husband had installed a CCTV there around December 2018 because she would previously leave the children alone at home.

At times, she would pull the older girl’s hair and drag her to the bedroom away from the camera.

The girl did not tell her father because she was afraid her mother would find out and assault her more. She did not know that she could tell her teachers either.

Her mother’s offences first came to light on June 18, 2019 when her father, who had just returned home from work, discovered her front teeth were broken.

She then revealed that she had been repeatedly slapped and kicked earlier that day, while her two siblings watched on. Her mouth also bled and she lost a front tooth as a result of her mother’s abuse.

Her father immediately took her for medical treatment without confronting his wife. The girl was given two days of medical leave.

He then checked the CCTV recordings and discovered what his spouse had done.

Three days later, the police received a report about the incident from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH).

CCTV footage showed that the woman had abused the older girl at least three times earlier that month — on June 8, 12 and 14. She was alone with the children on all these occasions.

When interviewed by the police, she lied that she had slapped the girl only once or twice but not multiple times. She denied kicking or throwing the girl to the floor.

THREW MARKER PEN

The court further heard that shortly afterwards, on July 5, 2019, she abused the younger girl by pinching her several times and slapping her face repeatedly.

After this incident, a child protection officer from the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Child Protective Service temporarily took the girls away from the home.

A few months passed before the mother directed her anger at the older girl again. She was already under police investigation at the time.

On Dec 1, 2019, her husband accompanied his parents — who was visiting them — to the void deck of the housing block to send them off. He then went to a nearby shop to buy some items.

While alone with the children, his wife forcefully threw a marker pen at the older girl’s forehead.

CCTV footage revealed that when she realised her daughter’s forehead was bleeding, she told her that she deserved it and to get out of the house. The girl then apologised.

When her husband returned home, she told him that she had thrown the pen out of anger and a bump had formed, but that the wound was minor and there was no need to take the girl to the clinic.

When he questioned the girl, she said that her mother had told her not to tell anyone.

After he alerted their child protection officer, his wife asked their daughter to lie to the officer that they had just been playing when a toy hit her. The officer arrived the next day and took the girl to KKH for medical treatment.

The mother later told the authorities that she could not cope with the girl’s complaints about her siblings.

FUTURE INTERACTIONS SHOULD BE STRICTLY SUPERVISED

However, this did not deter the mother from further abusing her daughters from March to May this year. She had been placed on bail at the time as investigations continued.

On March 8, when her husband was not home, she pulled the older girl’s ears and slapped and hit her. CCTV footage played in court showed the girl crying during the assault, while her mother shouted at her.

Around August, the woman’s husband noticed that she was losing her temper and shouting at their children for no reason. He viewed the CCTV recordings and discovered what was happening again.

The wife later claimed to the investigation officer that she was disciplining the girl because she knew she was going to jail and wanted the girl to step up before she went away.

She was examined by a psychiatrist who stated that she did not have “a convincing level of insight” into how her harsh disciplinary actions would negatively affect her children’s emotional, social and cognitive development in the future.

She also showed a degree of resistance to adopting acceptable alternative methods to discipline them.

Her future interactions with her children should be strictly supervised in the presence of responsible adults, the psychiatrist added.

She did not and does not suffer from any mental illness.

For each ill-treatment charge under the Children and Young Persons Act, she could be jailed for up to four years or fined up to S$4,000, or punished with both.