Singapore police and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) are now investigating an alleged abuse case after a video sparked outrage.
In the video, which was taken at about 9 pm on Monday, November 5 a young girl, who looks like to be of primary school age, is made kneel next to a white car in the carpark of Ikea Tampines. It also captured that a man, who is believed to be his father, points his finger at the girl and suddenly slaps her on the face while standing next to a woman, wearing a black dress.
A passer-by who filmed the entire episode said that the man slapped the girl so hard that he could hear it from such a distance. The unnamed passer-by sent the video to STOMP and said that "I do not know what the man was upset about, but he was saying things like, 'I love you but you cannot say these kinds of things to me' and 'It's no longer your mum's place, it is my place," adding that "I'm not sure if the woman in the video is the mother, but she seemed too scared to hold him off or do anything."
As per the eyewitness, the man left the place as soon as he noticed that more people had started to gather and realized that he shouldn't embarrass his daughter in a public place.
However, as per the police report, on Thursday, November 8 Ikea said that as soon as they found out about the incident, which happened on its premises, they filed a police complaint. An Ikea spokesperson said that the video clearly showed that it was the Ikea carpark and assured that they will provide their assistance in the investigation.
A man who watched the video reported this incident to MSF and requested an investigation from their side. He also urged for information about the man and his car no that he could provide to MSF for further investigation. Later, an MSF spokesperson stated that the ministry and the police, both are investigating the matter.
Evonne Lek, a child psychologist said that such incidents and violent attitude can be considered as physical and mental abuse that could affect the child.
