Parenting is absolutely a tough job to perform but understanding a child's problems and solving those issues are the main priorities of a parent. But, a 35-year-old father failed to do so and beat his own nine-year-old son after finding mistakes in his homework.
Reports stated that the father used a hanger to beat the child. He threw it towards him and also kicked the boy. After seeing the mistakes, he allegedly shouted at his son and said that since the minor was a "stupid," he failed to give the right answer.
The man faced a charge of ill-treating his son and pleaded guilty on Thursday, June 14. Due to the gags order, the name of the accused cannot be revealed to protect the child's identity. As the primary evidence, a seven minutes long video footage was presented during the hearing. As per the clipping, which was captured by a CCTV camera mounted on the family's dining room, the incident took place on August 4, 2017, at around 10.40 pm. It was not clear that who actually set up that camera over there.
It was revealed during the court hearing that the 34-year-old wife of that man, was undergoing a divorce case with him and she was the one who complained about the disturbing child abuse activity.
On the day of that incident, the neighbours informed the local police and told that they heard the crying voice of that child, including the loud voice of the accused.
Grace Chua, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) told the court that on August 4, last year at around 9 pm, when the unnamed mother of that child went to visit a friend, the boy was doing his homework. After some time he called his father, who was watching television to help the child to solve the difficulties that he was facing in his homework.
Later, the man asked the child to think about the answer on his own but after giving several wrong answers, the man went to the bedroom and took a plastic hanger to beat that child. The court also saw in that video evidence that the accused grabbed the hand of the boy and forcefully pulled him down from the chair. He also grabbed the legs of that minor, hung him in the air and started to hit the boy on his buttocks and legs by using the hanger.
This disturbing episode lasted for 30 seconds but after that, the father started to shout at his son, who kept saying that he didn't know the answer. The video also captured the man while throwing two forceful kicks and called him "stupid." Even inside the bedroom, he continued beating the boy by using his hands.
Later, at around 1.15 am when the mother of that boy came home, the child told her about the incident and checked the CCTV footage. She took her child to the KK Women's and Children's Hospital on the same day, as the minor had several bruises, including a big reddish-blue bruise on his buttocks and hook-shaped bruises on his back. After three days of treatment, the boy was discharged from the hospital, located at 100 Bukit Timah Road.
However, the father of the victim is now out on S$8,000 bail but he is ordered to return for the next hearing, which is scheduled on July 12, 2018.
As per the Children and Young Person Act, "a person shall be guilty of an offence if, being a person who has the custody, charge or care of a child or young person, he ill-treats the child or young person or causes, procures or knowingly permits the child or young person to be ill-treated by any other person."
The law also stated that any person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction — (a) in the case where death is caused to the child or young person, to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or to both; and (b) in any other case, to a fine not exceeding $4,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years or to both.
